V 



ARGUMENT 



FOR THE TRUTH OP 



CHRISTIANITY, 



SERIES OB^ DISCOURSES. 



BY I. D. WILLIAMSON, 

ALBANY, N. Y. 



NEW YORK: 

P. PRICE & CO., NO. 2, CHATHAM SQUARE. 

I 

STEREOTYPED BY REDFIELD AND LINDSAY. 



183C. 



Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1836, by 
P. Price & Co., in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the 
Southern District of New York. 



In Exchange 
Univ, of Wisconsin 
MAY 2 6 1937 



I 



PREFACE. 



The author of these discourses has long seen with 
regret, a spirit of scepticism at work in community, and 
strong exertions making to destroy faith in the gospel 
of Christ. Being " set for the defence of the gospel," 
he has deemed it a privilege and a duty, to labour both 
in public and in private, to deepen men's convictions 
of the inestimable value and substantial truth of Chris- 
tianity. He has not been an inattentive observer of the 
efforts of infidels and their mode of warfare. In former 
times it was an object with them to array science against 
the gospel, and hence they assumed at least a show of 
learning. This attempt has been thwarted, and by 
many able works it has been made to appear that every 
discovery of genuine science is in harmony with Chris- 
tianity. Within a few years past their mode of warfare 
has changed. The schools are not now the objects of 
their attacks. They have left the schools and gone to 
the "common people," and the leading object now ap- 
pears to be, to array reason against religion. Under 
these circumstances the author has thought that it would 
be useful to make an effort to meet them here, and show 



4 



PREFACE. 



that sound reason approves and sanctions the gospel 
of our salvation. With these views, early in his labours 
in the ministry, he prepared and delivered the original 
draft of these discourses, without however the least 
intention of giving them to the public through the press. 
Since that time, he has been repeatedly urged by those 
in whose judgment he confides, to revise and prepare 
them for the press. This work he has finally accom- 
plished, and. with their numerous imperfections they 
are now submitted to the public. The author is aware 
that they may possess little interest for the learned 
student in theology. He claims not the ability to in- 
struct such. He has written for the unlearned Chris- 
tian, and if his work shall in any good degree " strength- 
en the weak, 55 confirm the feeble, or reclaim the doubting, 
he will be satisfied that he has not laboured in vain. 
Though his work in its execution may be more humble 
than others, he flatters himself that it will not be the 
less useful on that account. His ardent prayer is that 
by this effort he may do some good in the name of Christ 
Jesus our Lord. 



DISCOURSE I. 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 

For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world, are 
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. 

Romans i. 20. 

I design this discourse as the first of a proposed series 
in defence of the fundamental doctrines of the Chris- 
tian religion, as presented in the volume of divine rev- 
elation. At a period of excitement and dissension 
among the professed followers of the Lord Jesus Christ 
— when the angry spirit of sectarian warfare, and the 
ill-advised efforts of bigotry and fanaticism, are doing 
much to advance the cause of scepticism, and little to 
promote the gospel, I deem it not only a sacred duty 
but a desirable privilege, to call back the attention of 
the people to a consideration of the first principles of 
our most holy faith, and to an examination of the 
grounds on which that faith is founded. Sincerely be- 
lieving as I do that Christianity has come down to us 
burdened and corrupted with the devices and inven- 
tions of men, a considerable share of my ordinary la- 
bours, in the pulpit, is designed to strip away the veil 
which has for ages obscured the face of the Lord's 
anointed, and to present the "glorious gospel of the 
blessed God" in its original simplicity and purity. In 
this laudable work, I am sensible there is danger to be 
avoided. In our zeal to purge out the dross we should 
be careful that we do not waste the metal itself, nor 



6 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 



lose sight of the inestimable value of the pure gold of 
the kingdom. The voice of prudence warns us to be- 
ware, lest in gathering up the tares we root up the 
wheat also. It is not only important that we distin- 
guish between Christianity and its corruptions, but it 
is equally important that we prepare ourselves to " give 
a reason for the hope that is in us," and to defend the 
gospel itself against the assaults of its enemies. 

I am fully aware that much, very much indeed, has 
been said and written in defence of Christianity.* The 
treasures of literature and science have been brought 
forth and made to bear on this momentous subject, and 
so triumphant has been the result, that to this day, the 
arguments of the advocates of the gospel remain unre- 
futed and in many cases even unattempted. A long 
line of defenders of the faith have risen up and put 
forth their powers in the cause of the Redeemer. Many 
of them have been men of giant minds, possessing 
powers and resources surpassed by none. While I 
admire their talents, I must be permitted to observe, 
that it may be doubted if the mass of their labours have 
not been too learned, and in a measure removed from 
the grasp of common minds. Their works, indeed, 
have not been designed for ordinary readers, but for 
men of education and leisure. To such they are in- 
valuable, and through them, they have been eminently 
useful to the world. Some volumes there are, it is 
true, which are strictly popular, and which have ex- 
erted a wide and happy influence on the interests of 
Christianity. But as infidelity exerts its most powerful 
influence over the popular mind, and as these works 
are not generally known, I have thought that some 
good might be done by another effort to check the 



* See note A. 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 



7 



influence of a withering scepticism, where it is most 
injuriously felt. At all events, I enter upon the work 
before me with the pleasing hope of guarding this 
" little flock 5 ' from deception, and of laying before you 
an easy and I trust a satisfactory method of meeting 
and solving the most popular objections against the 
gospel of Christ. 

In prosecuting my design in these discourses, I shall 
take a somewhat different course from that generally 
pursued, and endeavour to simplify the subject, as 
much as possible, that I may bring it to the understand- 
ings and capacities of all. The ground I take, and 
which I shall attempt to defend, is simply this : The 
important doctrines of Christianity are true ; not 
merely because they are found in a book claiming a 
divine origin, but because they correspond with and 
are sanctioned by the voice of reason, experience and 
"nature, speaking through all her works." 

I have long been of the opinion, that if Christianity 
cannot be defended upon its own merits, with the wea- 
pons of reason and common sense, it is not worth pre- 
serving. If there is nothing in it that harmonizes with 
the voice of nature, reason, and experience — nothing 
that carries along with it, to the unprejudiced judgment 
of man, the resistless conviction of its truth and value, 
certainly it can be of little use to the world ; and for 
ever vain will it be to contend that it originated in 
the counsels of infinite wisdom and unerring truth. 

Nature and experience never lie. The truths written 
out upon the pages of the great volume of creation, 
were written there by the ringer of its Divine Author 
and will stand for ever. The truths that may be gath- 
ered from experience are equally sure and certain* 
Hence it follows that all truth must harmonize with 



B 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE, 



these principles, and no system can be true which does 
not accord with them. 

It should be observed here, that the lessons learned 
from experience and nature, are general. They are 
as it were the first principles, the fundamental rules 
of the great science of truth and religion. Christianity 
professes to present the detail, and the practical opera- 
tions of the science. Hence again, we may see that 
all its parts must harmonize with these first principles. 
I will take, as an illustration of these remarks, the 
science of mathematics. When the tyro enters upon 
this study, his first business is to make himself familiar 
with its fundamental principles. He learns to add, 
subtract, multiply, and divide ; and in his whole course 
however far pursued, he never finds a problem that may 
not be solved by the application of these principles, or 
a demonstration that does not depend upon them for its 
correctness and truth. Destroy these and you de- 
stroy the whole science, root and branch; establish 
them, and you establish every conclusion resulting 
from their legitimate application. 

I look upon the subject before us in a similar light. 
From nature, reason, and experience, man learns the 
rudiments of religion. Its great principles are written 
upon the face of nature and providence, and reason may 
read them there ; and in all the ramifications of this 
greatest of all sciences, there is no one truths that does 
not recognise these first principles, and harmonize with 
them, yea, even result from their legitimate application. 

Now Christianity is but a further discovery, a more 
full exposition, and a clearer illustration of those eter- 
nal truths, whose rudiments are faintly delineated in 
the book of nature and providence. Hence follows the 
necessary conclusion, that the same God who wrote 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 



the first principles of religion upon the face of nature^ 
and shadowed them forth in his government, never 
wrote another book to contradict them, and if Chris- 
tianity does contradict them, we may be sure it did not 
come from the great Creator. On the other hand, if it 
shall be found that Christianity but repeats the voice 
of nature and providence, in clearer and more distinct 
tones, and makes further revelations of God's will and 
purposes, then will the presumption be fair, that it 
came from the same Divine Author. 

We should be unwise to close a book professing to 
contain new and important discoveries, in the science 
of mathematics, and while we were ignorant of its 
contents, call for witnesses to prove that it was written 
by some eminent mathematician. So in this case. It 
appears to me an unwise course for us, with the Bible 
in our hands, to close it and wrangle about its genuine- 
ness. In my humble opinion, the intrinsic excellence 
of the book itself, and its harmony with what we know 
of nature and providence, is the best evidence of its 
truth and divine origin. 

From these remarks, you will readily and correctly 
conclude, that I am not about to agitate the question 
whether the several books of Scripture were written by 
the persons whose names they bear, any further than a 
vindication of their truth may render their genuineness 
probable. You may have it, for the sake of the argument, 
if you will, that these books were all written by heathen 
philosophers or Jewish rabbins ; but what I shall at- 
tempt to prove is, that the essential doctrines here 
taught, are true. I am far from conceding the point, 
however, that the books of Scripture are not genuine. 
I thank God that infidelity has been met here, and the 
genuineness of Christian revelation vindicated, in a 



10 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 



manner, that leaves not a reasonable doubt. But yet 
I acknowledge, this point with me is one of minor im- 
portance. Truth is truth. And whether Paul or Peter, 
James or John, or some other person tells it, is a matter 
of comparatively trifling consequence. A lie, if told 
by an angel, would be a lie still, and truth though told 
by Satan, would be truth still. I care little from whom 
these doctrines came. Are they true ? Do they har- 
monize with the great lessons of truth written by the fin- 
ger of God upon his works, and manifested in his provi- 
dence % Are they based upon those great fundamentals 
of the science of religion, which God, that cannot lie, 
has exhibited before the eyes of the world, upon the 
visible works of his hand and the wonders of his prov- 
idence ? These are the questions to which the contro- 
versy will be pushed at last, and upon which Chris- 
tianity must ultimately stand or fall. 

Suppose, for instance, you take up the argument and 
prove beyond a doubt, that Paul actually wrote the 
epistles that bear his name. What have you done 
towards convincing the sceptic ? Why, you have just 
proved to him, that Paul was the author of a number 
of letters, containing, as he believes, a mass of childish 
and absurd superstitions ; but you have not gone one 
step towards convincing him that Paul told the truth. 
In my judgment, the better way would be to take up 
the doctrines taught in these epistles and show him, 
that they accord with all that we see and know ; and 
that they bear an harmonious correspondence to those 
eternal principles of truth that speak out from nature 
and providence, and are the same yesterday and to-day 
and for ever. When you have done this your work is 
done, and Christianity is placed upon a rock that will 
stand while the world standefh. 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 



11 



This course I intend to pursue in reference to the 
Scriptures generally. And in following out this plan ? 
you will at once perceive that it will be necessary to 
take those doctrines which constitute the prominent 
features of the Christian religion, and show that they 
are cognizable by reason in the manner above noted. 
It would not be fair reasoning to take merely one doc- 
trine, and contend, that the whole system is entitled to 
credit because that is true ; for it would be strange in- 
deed, if there was not some truth in a book as large as 
the Bible. Nor will it do to select even a number of 
doctrines, that may be incidentally introduced, but 
have no immediate bearing upon the vital interests of 
the system. Candour and honesty require us to exhibit 
those great and distinguishing doctrines, that lie at the 
foundation of the whole theory, that run through the 
whole range and leaven the whole lump of the teach- 
ings of the Bible. These should be put to the test? 
and if they can be proved true, then are we bound to 
receive the whole system, in all its doctrines, resulting 
from or harmonizing with these principles. 

Let it not be imagined, that the importance I here 
attach to the teachings of nature, providence, and rea- 
son, is calculated to countenance the idea that a reve- 
lation is unnecessary. It does not follow from the fact, 
that reason exercised upon nature and providence is 
able to recognize some truths, that it is fully sufficient 
to discover all. There are some truths in natural phi- 
losophy which are learned by the simplest savage that 
lives, and yet no one would contend, that all works 
upon that science are useless. There are some things, 
yea many, that men can see with the natural eye, some 
of them clearly, and others indistinctly, and yet a tel- 
escope is a very useful instrument to assist the sight. 



12 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 



And no man would be so childish as to argue from the 
fact, that he can see some things clearly with his un- 
aided eye, that therefore a telescope is useless. 

Now reason is the eye of the mind. There are some 
things which it sees clearly, and others indistinctly, 
and yet again there are others, that lie entirely beyond 
the reach of its vision. What the telescope is to the 
eye, revelation is to reason. Its design is, to aid, not 
to contradict reason. 

" When feeble reason, tired and blind, 

Sinks helpless and afraid, 
This blest supporter of the mind 

Affords its powerful aid." 

If this view of the nature and intent of revelation is 
correct, you will at once perceive, that we must, after 
all, depend upon reason for all our confidence in reve- 
lation, and it is utterly impossible that revelation should 
contradict that very reason, for whose guidance and 
direction it was given. As no man would have any 
confidence in a telescope that contradicts what he 
clearly sees with the naked eye, so, no reasonable man, 
can confide in a revelation which contradicts the clear 
teachings of reason. Or take, if you please, the other 
illustration. Every man knows the first principles of 
natural philosophy. Whether he ever heard of philos- 
ophy or not, he knows some of its principles, and he 
cannot believe any system of philosophy to be correct, 
which does not recognise these first principles. For 
instance ; I am acquainted with the fact, that a stone 
thrown into the air will descend to the earth. This I 
know as well without philosophy as with it. Now 
suppose a book were put into my hands, claiming to be 
a treatise on philosophy, in which the principle is all 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 



13 



along adopted, that bodies do not gravitate toward the 
earth, but from it, and that a stone thrown into the air, 
instead of descending, will continue to ascend ad in- 
finitum. You see at once 3 that I should pronounce it 
an imposition. You might labour to convince me, that 
the great Newton wrote the book, and it would make 
no difference. I could not believe, for I know, that 
nothing can be true which contradicts this established 
law of nature, which I see manifested around me every- 
day. On the other hand, I am presented with a work 
upon philosophy. The author takes up the principle 
of gravitation precisely as I see it exhibited in the fal- 
ling stone. He traces it out and explains its operation 
in things where I had not before observed it. He points 
me to the rising vapour and the falling shower, the 
murmuring rill and the roaring cataract, the ponderous 
globe in its movements, and the distant stars in their 
courses ; he explains the operations of the principle in 
all these, and he informs me how it may be applied to 
the arts of civilized life. He shows me how it enters 
into the construction of the busy mill, and the gallant 
ship, and how it may be successfully applied to the 
accomplishment of purposes which the unaided arm 
of man could not accomplish. I am delighted* I per- 
ceive that it all accords with what I have seen, and 
what I know, and I pronounce it true. And yet no 
man would attempt to convince me that this work was 
useless, because I knew before, that a stone would fall 
to the earth. 

So it is in the subject before us. There are lessons 
of truth and religion, which are clearly exhibited to the 
eye of reason., in the book of nature and providence. 
These lessons the " way -faring man" may read. Sup- 
pose, then, a book is put into our hands claiming to con- 
2 



14 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 



tain a correct and true system of religion, and we find 
upon examination, that it contradicts all the lessons of 
reason and experience. We cannot receive it as truth, 
but should be fully justified in rejecting it as an impo- 
sition. On the other hand, suppose the book recog- 
nises these principles, traces them out in results and 
operations with which we were before unacquainted, 
and explains their application to our conduct in life, 
and our hopes of futurity. In this case we should clasp 
it to our bosoms as an inestimable treasure. Nor ought 
any man to contend that it is useless or unnecessary, 
because its rudiments were previously known. 

I know there are those who contend that reason alone, 
unaided by revelation, is able to teach us all that it is 
necessary to know; and they would affect to consider 
it an impeachment of the infinite wisdom of God, to 
say, that the reason he had bestowed upon man was 
not fully adequate to open to him all those treasures of 
knowledge necessary to elevate him to the highest per- 
fection of his nature. Hence they profess to reject all 
that is not within the purview of simple unaided rea- 
son. I have a mind to query with these wise men for 
a few moments, and see if they will reduce the principle 
here set forth to practice. 

Why will they not contend that a man's eyes alone 
are fully sufficient to see all that is necessary to be 
seen? Why not say that it is an impeachment of the 
infinite wisdom of God, to contend that the eyes which 
He has bestowed upon man, are not fully sufficient to 
present him with all that need be seen or known ? Why 
not abide by the principle in practice, and reject at once 
all that knowledge, as fabulous and deceptive, which 
comes to us from the aid of the telescope, and other 
glasses ? The astounding discoveries of Newton, and 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 



15 



all that world of wonders opened before us by the mi- 
croscope, must be cast aside, for the unaided vision of 
man cannot reach them. And not only these, but there 
are many of the arts which require finer optics than 
God has given us to carry them on to perfection. These 
all must be stricken out, and with them spectacles 
must be taken from the eyes of the aged ; for it would 
imply a censure upon the infinite wisdom of God, to 
suppose for a moment, that the eyes which he has 
given to man are not fully adequate for every purpose 
for which they are required, without any of these arti- 
ficial helps ! When men begin to reason in this way, 
we shall think there is some consistency in their re- 
jecting revelation, through fear that they shall censure 
infinite wisdom for having made reason so feeble. 

The truth is^ that God has given man eyes, but there 
are many things that lie beyond the reach of his vision. 
To remedy this defect, he has given him ingenuity to 
construct instruments by which he can enlarge the 
sphere of his vision, and explore those fields of nature 
that must otherwise be for ever shrouded in impenetra- 
ble darkness. But observe, it is the eye that sees after 
all. In like manner, God has given man reason, the 
eye of the soul, but the sphere of its operation is lim- 
ited. To supply this deficiency, he has given him a 
revelation, by which the field of his observation is en- 
larged, and new discoveries and new truths are laid 
open, which without it would for ever have remained 
among the secret things which man cannot penetrate. 
But mark, it is reason that sees them at last, and rev- 
elation is but the instrument that brings them to light. 
It was this view of the matter, that drew from the cel- 
ebrated Locke the following sentiment : " The man 
who would persuade me to reject reason because we 



16 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 



have a revelation, does much the same as if he would 
persuade me to put out my eyes, that I may receive the 
light of an invisible star by the aid of a telescope." 
This would indeed be a pernicious mistake, but no 
more so than that which supposes that revelation is 
designed to supersede the necessity of reason. 

Closely connected with this, is a propensity to expect 
too much of revelation, and to cast it aside because it 
does not reveal all that our curiosity desires to know. 
Some appear to think that revelation ought to teach 
them every thing, and because it leaves many things 
unexplained, they throw it aside as a cheat or impos- 
ture. Such would do well to remember, that some 
things are too high for man. To recur once more to 
our illustration. The eye of man is not only limited 
in its sphere of vision, in itself considered, but it is so, 
after all the aids that modern improvements can afford. 
Notwithstanding it has been most astonishingly en- 
larged by the powers of the telescope, yet there are 
many things that the best glasses cannot reach. But 
who ever heard a man offer this as a reason why that 
noble instrument should be discarded as useless ? You 
may search for the most perfect instrument on earth, 
one that will lay the heavens as a map before you, but 
you cannot decide by actual vision, whether the planets 
are inhabited or not. You cannot number the stars, or 
determine the chymical properties of the materials that 
compose them. Of these things we must be ignorant. 
But this is no good reason for rejecting the means by 
which many of the most wonderful discoveries in mod- 
ern science have been made. 

Thus reason is not only limited in its field of suc- 
cessful operation when viewed in its own strength 
alone, but it is also limited with all the aid that revela- 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 



17 



tion can give. After all is known, that revelation can 
teach, there are many things that must remain un- 
explored. And this arises from the simple fact, that 
reason is like its possessor, extremely limited, and it 
ought not to be expected, that revelation, or any thing 
else, can make that infinite which God has made finite. 
I am not certain that I have not wandered from the 
legitimate subject of these lectures ; but this being de- 
signed merely as an introduction, I was anxious to 
place clearly and fully before you, the ground upon 
which I propose to rest the defence of the gospel. 

The sum of the matter is this. There are lessons 
written upon the face of nature and providence, which 
reason can read with certainty. These are true. There 
are others faintly indicated in nature, and fully devel- 
oped in revelation. These also are true. And it is 
the object of these lectures to show that there is an un- 
broken harmony between the great fundamentals of 
religion, as presented to the naked eye of reason in 
nature and providence ; and the further exhibitions of 
the same religion as presented and illustrated in the 
book of revelation. I shall attempt to prove, that Chris- 
tianity, as it came from its Divine Author, is not the 
religion of the Bible only ; but also the religion of rea- 
son, the religion of nature, and the religion of provi- 
dence ; and hence the strong presumption that it came 
from the God of nature ; the fountain of reason, and 
the ruler of all events. I do not indeed expect to show 
that every item in the Christian system is clearly ex- 
hibited in nature or providence ; but what I contend is, 
that its great fundamental principles are plainly written 
upon these works and ways of God ; that they can be 
read by the eye of enlightened reason ; and when rev- 
elation has laid open the further developments of the 
2* 



18 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE, 



system, nature and providence unite with the prince 
pies already learned, in bearing witness to their truth. 
If I shall be able, with any degree of clearness to prove, 
that the great and leading principles of Christianity are 
true, I will not contend with any man about their or- 
igin. If he will not believe that the waters partake of 
the nature of the fountain ; or if he feels disposed to 
contend, that sweet waters have flowed from a bitter 
fountain, he may have the argument to himself. Give 
me the incontrovertible fact that the waters are sweet, 
and I ask no more. My work is now fairly before me, 
and the method of treating the subject is fully before 
you. In my next discourse I shall commence an ex- 
amination of the great principles of revealed religion, 
for the purpose of showing that they may be " under- 
stood by the things that are made. 55 

Permit me to add, that the subject to which our at- 
tention will be directed is one of vast and incalculable 
moment. It is not a mere matter of idle speculation 
which may be true or false without seriously affecting 
the interests or the happiness of individuals and the 
world at large. But it is one that comes home to men's 
"business and bosoms," with a power that cannot be 
resisted. There are fountains of hope and rivers of 
bliss opened in the gospel of our Lord and master, 
which if dried up will leave the world a thirsty land. 
It is of some consequence for me to know whether my 
life is bounded by " earth's contracted span," or wheth- 
er I may hope to live in immortal bliss beyond the 
grave. I cannot feel indifferent to this question, inas- 
much as upon its answer depends my joy in life, and 
my hope in the last solemn hour which shall call me 
hence to be here no more. If I may anticipate with 
unwavering confidence, " a house not made with 



INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE, 



19 



hands, eternal in the heavens," and an immortal dwel- 
ling there, and if I may believe in a God whose tender 
care is always over me to protect and bless, then can I 
bear the ills of life with patient resignation, and in the 
last struggle with the pale terrific king, I can shout the 
song of victory over death and the grave. These hopes 
and joys are involved in the subject before us, and let 
our prayer be, that wisdom from above may guide us 
into all truth* 



DISCOURSE II. 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, 

Genesis i. 1. 

In the preceding discourse I signified my intention 
of delivering a series of lectures in defence of the Chris- 
tian religion, as a system of divine truth. The mode 
of argument suggested was, to prove by the aid of rea- 
son and natural religion, that the doctrines of Chris- 
tianity are true. I proposed to take up and examine 
the fundamental principles of the gospel, for the pur- 
pose of showing that they are sanctioned by the testi- 
mony of., reason, nature and experience. To this 
examination and discussion I now invite your most 
serious attention. I remark 

L That the Bible teaches that there is a God. 

This doctrine is not set forth in the Scriptures as 
merely an incidental truth, or an unimportant item in 
the great system of revelation. On the contrary, it is pre- 
sented as the great foundation on which the whole 
superstructure is reared, and in the fabric above there 
is not a stone that does not rest upon this. There is 
not a doctrine taught nor a moral precept urged, which 
does not recognise the existence of God. To him the 
Christian religion ascribes the origin of all things as 
their Creator. 

Man is naturally inquisitive, and when he looks upon 
the wonders of nature around him — the shining heav- 
ens and the beautiful earth — he is irresistibly led to 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



21 



inquire whence they came, and how and where they 
originated % You are doubtless aware, that the wisdom 
of this world has been put to its severest task to find 
answers to these questions. Various theories have 
been invented and propagated. They have been cher- 
ished and admired for a little season, and have been 
cast away with the lumber of human intellect, to be 
succeeded by others, which in their turn have been 
received, admired and forgotten. It is the business of 
this discourse to show, that one system, and one only 
is true ; and that one is the system of the Bible. When 
Moses ascribed the origin of heaven and earth to a wise 
and powerful Creator, he gave the only reasonable and 
philosophical answer, that ever was given to the ques- 
tion whence they came. All other answers fail of sat- 
isfying the rational mind. There are amongst us, 
some who claim to be wise, who have endeavoured to 
explain the wonders of nature without the necessity of 
admitting the existence of a God. Upon their theories 
it is deemed necessary to bestow a passing notice. 

1. The first to be noticed is that of the materialist. 

It contends that matter is eternal, having existed 
from all past eternity, and being destined to exist du- 
ration without end. It moreover asserts, that matter 
has in itself, certain inherent and immutable laws, by 
which it is ever governed, and to which the universe 
is indebted for all of form, motion, order and harmony 
that it discovers to the eye of the beholder. It is not 
necessary for me to enter here into the mysteries of 
this theory, or explain the mode of operation by which 
these laws proceed in the works of nature, and I will 
therefore content myself with the above outline* of the 
system, and proceed to its examination. 



* See note B. 



22 



EXISTENCE OF GOD, 



Ordinarily speaking, we should consider it rather a 
contradiction in terms, to talk of laws at the same time 
we denied the existence of a lawgiver. Generally, 
where we find laws, we are able to trace them hack to 
some intelligent source. I am therefore unable to per- 
ceive the propriety of contending for laws without a 
lawgiver. But let this pass. Perhaps the poverty of 
language may be an apology for the use of the word 
"laws" in this case. But the theory itself is liable to 
many and strong objections. 

1. Its first principles are assumed. 

It has not yet been proved that matter is eternal, and 
it ought not to be expected that a simple assertion or 
hypothesis will be received as a stable foundation on 
which to build a system of philosophy or religion. It 
will be perceived that the eternity of matter and its 
laws, is the main pillar of this system, and it cannot 
exist for a moment without this foundation. How then, 
we ask, do men know that matter has existed from all 
past eternity ? We have a history of the world which 
extends back about six thousand years, and I am not 
acquainted with any authentic record which extends 
further ; nor do I know how I could prove even the 
existence of matter anterior to that period. I allow, 
that some geologists of note have contended, that there 
are appearances in the geological structure of the earth 
which strongly indicate that it has existed much more 
than six thousand years. It certainly, however, may 
admit of a question, whether the lapse of six thousand 
years is not a period sufficiently long to work all those 
changes w r hich appear to have taken place on, or near 
the surface of the earth. But suppose we allow what 
I believe is conceded, that the term " day" as used in 
die first chapter of Genesis, is not limited to twenty- 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



four hours, but denotes simply an indefinite period of 
time ; and of course, that the earth in some form may 
have existed for an unknown duration ; yet this would 
not prove the eternity of matter. I hope it will be 
borne in mind, that the question between the materi- 
alist and the Christian, is not whether God created the 
earth six or ten thousand years ago, but whether there 
is a God who created it at all? It is not merely 
whether matter has existed for any given period of time, 
but whether it has existed from eternity % I wish to 
be as accommodating as possible, and will therefore 
give any reasonable length of time. You say there are 
geological appearances which indicate that the earth 
has existed more than six thousand years. Grant it. 
How m uch more ? Will ten million years answer you 1 
I doubt if you can discover evidences of change in the 
structure of the earth, which might not have been 
wrought in that time. Grant then for the sake of the 
argument, that the earth has existed ten million years, 
and yet its eternity i%?far from being proved, for even 
that long period is but a moment compared with eter- 
nity. It is not enough for the materialist to prove, that 
matter has existed five, ten, or a hundred millions of 
years, for its existence for that period, is no more proof 
of its eternity, than its existence for a thousand years 
or even an hour. I repeat ; the eternity of matter is 
the very life and soul of the theory now under consid- 
eration, and we have a right to demand proof full to 
the point. There is so much difference between time 
and eternity, that we cannot regard the existence of 
matter, even for a long period of time ? as conclusive 
proof of its eternity. 

I recollect that I am dealing with a class of men 
who pride themselves upon their strict adherence to 



* 1 

# II 

24 EXISTENCE OF GOD. 

reason and philosophy, and who profess that they will 
not believe without evidence. They must not there- 
fore blame me if I scrutinize somewhat closely. 

In proof of the eternity of matter, it is alleged to be 
indestructible. But how do we know that matter is 
indestructible? If there is so much true and genuine 
philosophy in the system of the materialist, certainly 
its first principles ought to be indubitable. But I must 
be allowed to thrust in a doubt between the assertion 
that matter is indestructible, and the conclusion, that 
it is eternal. It may be said with at least a show of 
propriety, that matter has existed for a long time, and 
though it is constantly undergoing changes, yet no part 
of it has been annihilated. This has been said. But 
allow me to ask, how do you know this ? Have you 
measured the whole mass of matter with such accuracy 
as to be quite certain that there is not a particle more 
or less in the universe than there was ten thousand 
years ago % It has been said further, that all the re- 
searches of science have never b^en able to discover a 
method by which a particle of matter could be de- 
stroyed. Man can resolve almost every thing back to 
its original elements. He can dissolve and arrange 
and combine the particles of matter almost at his pleas- 
ure, but he cannot destroy it. All this is true ; but 
what then ? Are we to conclude that nothing can be 
done but what man can do ? Man cannot make a spire 
of grass, and yet there is grass on earth. Man cannot 
make a tree, but yet there are trees in the forest. I 
readily and cheerfully grant, that to man, so far as we 
know, matter is indestructible. He cannot annihilate 
one particle, but this does not prove that it is absolutely 
so. It should be recollected that all man can do, is to 
bring different portions of matter together, and let the 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



25 



elements and chymical properties of these different por- 
tions operate one upon the other 5 which is after all, 
no more than setting one portion of matter to the work 
of destroying another. So then, the sum of the argu- 
ment is this. Because matter by the operation of its 
own laws will not to our knowledge destroy itself ; 
therefore matter is indestructible and eternal, and there 
is no God who created it. I beg leave to be excused 
from following such conclusions as these. I insist 
upon it, the fact that man in his weakness and igno- 
rance cannot destroy matter; and the other fact which 
I am ready to concede, that matter will not destroy 
itself by any combination of its laws or operation of its 
elements, afford no just ground for the conclusion that 
it is absolutely indestructible. If I were to build a 
house and lay its foundation so deep and rear its walls 
so high and firm, that my little child could not pull it 
down, I should deem him a child indeed, who would 
conclude that the house had no builder, but had stood 
from eternity, becauae its puny arm could not remove 
its corner stone. IVmn is a child; and most childish 
of children is that man who looks at the stupendous 
works of nature and concludes that the temple of the 
universe must have stood from eternity without a 
builder, simply because its pillars have not yet crum- 
bled with age, and he cannot put forth his hand and 
crush the mighty fabric to oblivion. There is no diffi- 
culty in conceiving how God could make matter so that 
it could not be destroyed by man, or its own laws, and 
yet matter not be either indestructible or eternal. 

2. Another objection to the system under consider- 
ation is, that it fails of its proposed object, even allow- 
ing its premises to be true. 

The object is to account for the existence of the 
3 



26 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



heavens and the earth, without the necessity of an in- 
telligent Creator. Suppose now it were admitted that 
matter with all its laws has existed from all past eter- 
nity, still the work of accounting for the present form 
and order and motion of the earth, and the heavenly 
bodies, is not half begun. There are some wonders in 
the form, and arrangement, and motion of the earth, 
and the planets, which I do not hesitate to say, it is 
impossible to explain by any known laws of matter, 
however long these laws may have been in existence. 
I will take the earth for example. It moves in its orbit 
around the sun, travelling, say in round numbers, six 
hundred million miles in a year. Now I will grant if 
you please, that matter floating at random or slumber- 
ing in chaos, has a law by virtue of which it will form 
itself into globes or balls, of the same shape as the 
earth. I will admit further, that this law operated in 
such a manner as to form the earth a globe or ball. 
The earth is now formed, and if there is any truth in 
the theory of gravitation, the firstdtoiovement it would 
make would be directly towards tne sun. But where 
is the law of matter, which would give it its present 
movement round the sun ? Where is that law of mat- 
ter which could so nicely adapt this momentum to the 
power of gravitation, that it should pursue the even 
tenor of its way for ages without deviation ? I know 
there is a property of matter called inertness, by virtue 
of which it remains in the same state of motion or rest 
in which it is placed, until it is overcome by some op 
posing power. When the earth was once put in mo- 
tion, this law would keep it so, until stopped by some 
resistance. But where is the law which would put it in 
motion at first? The law of gravitation would give it 
motion, I confess, but it would be in a direct line to- 



EXISTENCE OF GOD, 



27 



ward the sun ; but you will bear in mind, that its pres- 
ent motion is not in the line of gravitation, the only 
known law by which it could be moved. Where then 
I ask again, is the law of matter which could move the 
earth with inconceivable velocity in a direction widely 
departing from the line in which the ever-active law 
of gravitation would move it? I have no hesitation in 
saying, that there is no such law of matter, and the 
man who attempts thus to account for the motion of the 
earth and the heavenly bodies, gives us a bare hypo- 
thesis without a solitary fact for its support. 

Again, the earth turns upon its axis once in twenty- 
four hours, and we have a right to inquire for the law 
of matter which gives it this motion. We have a right 
to ask, not only for an assertion, but for something 
resembling proof, that such a law has an existence in 
pure matter, considered simply as such ! As I said in 
the other case, if there was some power to give the 
earth its rotary motion at first, the law of inertness 
would continue that motion, until stopped by some 
resisting power. But we are not searching for a law 
that is able to keep matter in motion, when once it is 
moved. We want the law that gives the motion in the 
first instance, and this law must be found and proved 
to exist in pure matter, independent of any foreign 
power. Until this work is performed, I shall hold it 
as a valid objection, against the system of the mate- 
rialist, that it fails of accounting for the origin of the 
heavenly bodies and the earth, with their motions, and 
order, and harmony. I include the heavenly bodies, 
in this last remark, because what I have said in relation 
to the earth, is equally true when applied to any other 
body in the solar system. 

II. The second theory, which I propose to examine, 



23 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



is a modification, or rather, perhaps, an improvement 
of the system of materialism. 

I know not that it has received a distinctive name, 
or a " local habitation," but its novelty, if nothing else, 
entitles it to a small share of our attention. Like the 
system of the materialist, it contends that matter is 
indestructible and eternal ; and, what is most singular, 
that every body in the universe is produced from light. 
Taking the solar system as an example, the following 
is the theory : Light is matter. The sun is the foun- 
tain of light. It is constantly sending off floods of 
light, and consequently of matter. These particles of 
light, after traversing regions of space, assume to 
themselves the power of attraction ; a nucleus is formed, 
around which other particles gather. The body, thus 
formed, soon acquires sufficient density to be affected 
by the power of gravitation towards the sun. As a 
matter of course, it moves with accelerated velocity 
towards the sun ; but, being attracted in its way by 
other bodies, it is turned from a direct line, and passes 
by, but near that luminary. So great, however, is its 
momentum, that it continues to move, until the power 
of the sun's attraction has brought it into an elliptical 
orbit. These are comets, which, I believe, are allowed 
to be less dense than the planets. In this manner they 
•continue to move around the sun, acquiring greater 
density to themselves, and their orbits becoming less 
and less elliptical at every revolution. In this manner 
they will revolve, until they become as dense as the 
earth, and their orbits as nearly circular. Moreover, 
it is alleged, that they continue to approximate the 
sun, and will do so, till they, and all that are now 
planets, return to be burned in the great fountain from 
whence they sprang at first. In this way, the body of 



EXISTENCE OF GOD, 



the sun is replenished, so that it does not diminish \ 
and after this manner, " old worlds are burned and new 
ones made*" I have introduced this new theory, more 
than any thing else, for the purpose of showing how 
liberally men are obliged to draw upon the resources of 
imagination, in order to account for the existence of the 
heavens and the earth, when they reject the simple 
fact, that " God made them." The most I can say of 
it is, that it is an ingenious hypothesis, without a single 
fact for its support. 

In the first place, it has not been proved that light is 
matter, the different particles of which are, under any 
circumstances, capable of attracting each other, and 
assuming a solid and opaque form. This is a matter 
of vital interest to the system, and it should be proved 
by something more than a supposition, before we are 
required to give assent to any conclusions resulting 
from these premises. Let us have some fact, which 
will go to prove that particles of light, sent off from a 
luminous body, have the power of gathering them- 
selves into solid bodies, of greater or less density; then, 
and not till then, will there be some shadow of found- 
ation for the subsequent part of the theory. 

But there is another objection to this theory. I 
suppose it will be admitted, that there was a time when 
the first body was formed from these rays of light. It 
begun to gravitate and move towards the sun. Why 
did it not go in a straight line thither, and thus, in its 
youth, return to the fountain whence it came ? This 
it would most certainly do, unless drawn from its 
course by some other body. But at this time, the fact 
is, there was no other body that could attract it. It 
must, therefore, remain among the mysteries of this 
theory, how this first comet, if you please to call it so, 
3* 



30 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



happened to turn aside from its natural course and 
make a circuit round the sun, instead of falling directly 
into it, as it would inevitably have done, had it obeyed 
the law of gravitation. 

Still another objection remains. It is an impor- 
tant item in this theory, that the orbits, both of the 
comets and planets, are gradually assuming a less 
elliptical form. Unless this is admitted, there is no 
conceivable way in which a comet can be transformed 
into a planet. But where is the evidence of this posi- 
tion. It ought to be proved, that the earth and all the 
planets are approaching the sun, if they are to fall into 
it at last. But where again, I ask, is the evidence 
upon which this position is founded ? I frankly con- 
fess, that I have not been favoured with a view of the 
proof. 

But, after all, this theory of light, leaves us as much 
in the dark as we were before. It tells us, that the 
earth and all the solar system, originated in the sun 
and were formed by the operation of the laws of matter, 
which existed in the particles of light emitted from the 
king of day. But where the sun liimselt came from, 
and how he was formed, with the wonderful power of 
giving birth to worlds, it does not tell. Like all other 
systems, it has its mysteries, and the worst of it all is, 
that it leaves involved in mystery, the very point it 
was framed to explain. 

I will not pursue the investigation of these systems 
of worldly wisdom further. Man has, indeed, sought 
out many inventions, and we may safely say of this 
kind of speculations, as Solomon said of making books, 
* there is no end." I have purposely omitted any 
notice of the systems of ancient philosophers, because 
they are out of date, in this day ; and I have only 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



4k 



noted, among modern inventions, those which set up 
the highest claim to our veneration, as systems of true 
philosophy. More than this would have been unne- 
cessary, and less I could not do. Hear, then, the con- 
clusion of the whole matter : — 

The systems which I have had under consideration, 
entirely fail of accounting for the existence of the 
heavens and the earth. They by no means assign 
causes which are adequate to the production of the 
effects ; and, without exception, they end in nothing 
better than vanity and vexation of spirit. 

Turn, now, your attention to the Bible, and the 
mystery is explained — the enigma is solved, and an 
adequate cause is assigned for all the wonders of the 
universe. It ascribes the origin of the heavens and 
the earth, to a being whose wisdom never errs, and 
whose power knows no control. When we gaze 
upon the firmament in its glory, and contemplate the 
earth in its beauty, and, lost in astonishment and won- 
der, ask whence they came 7 the answer comes to us 
from the pen of the sacred historian : " In the begin- 
ning, God created the heavens and the earth;" and 
before the light of this truth, the darkness, that brooded 
over the origin of all things, vanishes at once. This is 
the only rational and philosophical answer that was 
ever given to the question before us. It is reasonable 
and philosophical, because reason and sound philosophy 
both declare, that the works of the material universe 
could not have come into existence without some 
cause, much less could they assume their present form 
and motion without some power and intelligence, more 
than has ever yet been proved to exist in pure matter. 
I think I have shown, that there are no laws of matter 
which could frame the universe, and even that the earth, 



32 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



by some means, has a motion opposed to the original 
laws of its elements. It is, therefore, but moderate 
reason, and the elements of philosophy, which teach 
that the universe owes its existence and motion, and 
order and harmony, to some intelligent cause, inde- 
pendent of matter. That cause we call, and the Bible 
calls, GOD. 

This subject will be continued in my next discourse ; 
and I, therefore, dismiss it, for the present, by an ap- 
plication to the object of these lectures. I said, in the 
commencement, that my object would be to prove, that 
the fundamental doctrines of the Bible are true, with- 
out agitating the question of their origin. The exist- 
ence of a God, is the first article in the faith of the 
Christian, and without it, the whole system must fall 
to the ground. Now, I contend, that when Moses 
commenced, by ascribing the origin of heaven and 
earth to God, he began with as reasonable and philo- 
sophical a truth, as mortal man ever uttered. I will 
not even contend with you, whether Moses or some 
other individual wrote the books that are usually 
accredited to him ; but I do say that, whoever wrote 
them, commenced with a solemn truth, which no man 
can overthrow. If others can bring themselves to 
believe that knaves, conniving to write a book on pur- 
pose to deceive, would dig deep and lay the foundation 
on the everlasting rocks of truth, I cannot pause to dis- 
pute with them ; but I point you to this corner stone, 
and I insist, that whoever may have laid it, it is truth ; 
and would be none the less true, if it were laid by the 
hands of Lucifer himself. I have, therefore, a right to 
demand your assent to so much of the Bible as this; 
and also to all the conclusions legitimately flowing from 
these premises. If this is the foundation, then I claim 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



33 



your concession, that Christianity has its foundation 
in truth. Whether the superstructure is in harmony 
with the foundation, is reserved for further inquiry. 
All I now ask, is the position, that there is a God who 
created the heavens and the earth. I have begun at 
the corner stone, and I shall go upward with the build- 
ing, using the best of my humble endeavours to show, 
that the topstone may, at last, be brought forth with 
joy and with shoutings of grace ! 



DISCOURSE III. 



EXISTENCE OF GOD CONTINUED. 

Know ye that the Lord is God ; it is he that hath made us and not we 
ourselves. Psalms c. 3. 

In my last discourse, I had under consideration the 
subject of the existence of God. I attempted to show, 
-that the manner in which the Scriptures account for 
the origin of the heavens and the earth, affords the 
only reasonable and satisfactory solution of the ques- 
tion, that was ever offered. I examined some theories, 
that men have invented, and endeavoured to show, 
that they fail, utterly fail of accounting for the won- 
ders of the universe as seen around us. In this dis- 
course I propose to continue the same subject. We 
have looked at the heavens and the earth in their mag- 
nificence and glory, and have concluded, that they did 
not spring into existence by chance, and that the Laws 
of matter are incompetent to their production ; and 
hence we have argued, that the Scripture is true which 
saith, God created them. We now turn our attention 
to man, and our object will be attained if we are able 
logically to arrive at the conclusion, that the text is 
true which saith, "It is he that hath made us and not 
we ourselves." 

I pretend not to originality in the arguments which I 
am about to offer you. It is ground, that has been trod, 
and I claim no more to myself than the manner of 
presenting the subject. 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



85 



That we exist is a fact beyond all controversy. 
This is no speculation, but a sober matter of fact, 
which every man knows with certainty. At all events 5 
if a man says he does not know the fact of his own 
existence, he confesses himself a fool, and to reason 
with him were useless. I speak not to fools but to 
men of common sense. The position is, that we do 
actually exist, and the question is, how came we into 
existence ? We did not make ourselves, and we sure- 
ly cannot say, that we originated in absolute nothing. 
It follows then as an incontrovertible truth, that there 
must have been an adequate cause for our existence. 
In reference to this cause, whatever it may be, it may 
be observed, that it must be self-existent or created. It 
either existed from all past eternity, or it begun to ex- 
ist at some period of time. If there was a time when 
it came into existence, then it must have originated in 
some cause, for the cause that produced us could no 
more create itself, than we could create ourselves. So, 
if we say the cause that produced us was the product 
of some antecedent cause, the same reasoning will 
hold good. That antecedent cause must have existed 
from all eternity, or it must have come into being at 
some period of time, and of course originate in some 
other cause. The same reasoning, that will apply to 
ourselves will apply to the cause of our existence, or 
the cause of that cause, or even to the ten-thousandth 
in a retrogade series, and the conclusion will be, that 
whatever begins to exist must have a cause, and hence 
there must have been something from eternity, neces- 
sarily self-existent. Any thing, that has a beginning 
must have a cause for that beginning, and cannot 
therefore be self-existent. These positions we think 
are self-evident. We therefore lay it down as a posi- 



St 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



tion that cannot be successfully controverted, that 
something must have existed from all eternity, which 
was not the production of any cause, but necessarily 
self-existent, and independent of all causes. 

The question now arises ; what is that, which is 
self-existent and the cause of all subsequent existence 1 
The materialist will contend, that it is matter. I 
have before passed some strictures upon the doctrine 
of the eternity of matter showing that it is destitute of 
proof. But the doctrine now before us, i i designed to 
account for maris existence without the necessity of 
admitting the existence of an intelligent Creator. It 
teaches, that the efficient cause of man's existence 
with all his powers of body and mind, may be found 
in those ever-active laws, which exist and have exist- 
ed in matter from all eternity. The point of the argu- 
ment lies in the position, that these laws or principles 
which produced man, were not given to matter by any 
separate, or pre-existing intelligence, but that they ex- 
ist independently, originally and eternally in pure mat- 
ter. And it is further alleged, that these laws are ever 
active ; they are now, and ever have been, in operation, 
producing all sorts of life, and every degree of intelli- 
gence, man not excepted. I propose now to enter 
upon an examination of this theory, to determine, if 
possible, whether it can furnish a solution of the prob- 
lem of man's existence. Here is man at the head of 
animated nature : he thinks, he perceives, he feels and 
reasons. He is not self-existent, and, of course, must 
be the product of some adequate cause. The simple 
question is, whether matter, considered purely as such, 
is adequate to the production of such a being, by the 
operation of its own inherent laws ? The advocate of 
the affirmative of this question, must take one or the 



EXISTENCE OF GOD, 37 

other of these positions. He must either contend that 
laws, fully adequate to the production of a thinking, 
reasoning man, exist in all matter, even every particle, 
or in some portions and not in others ; or, lastly, that 
they exist in the whole mass taken together.* 

1. Let us suppose that all matter contains those 
laws which originate life, thought, and intelligence, 
it will follow, that every particle of matter in the uni- 
verse is capable of producing an intelligent being. If, 
therefore, these laws are ever-active, we might have ex- 
pected that they would, long ere this, have peopled the 
universe — rocks, hills, mountains, valleys, and waters — 
with thronging myriads of intelligent creatures. Why 
does matter, with laws fully adequate to produce a think- 
ing man, lie, forages on ages, in senseless marble, when 
these wonderful laws are all the while in full and 
vigorous operation'? The truth is, there are no such 
laws there ; and, until trees begin to talk, and rocks to 
sing, the idea under consideration, can be regarded, by 
the wise and prudent, in no other light, than one of the 
wildest and most extravagant vagaries of the human 
imagination. If all matter contains ever-active laws 
for the production of man, then, certainly, the greater 
part of it is very disobedient to those laws, and would 
be as well without them. 

2. Suppose those laws, or principles, exist only in 
some parts or portions of matter. To such a supposition, 
it may very properly be objected, that it is entirely 
gratuitous. No discovery of science, nor any experi- 
ment in philosophy, has ever yet been able to detect 
any law or property belonging to one particle of matter, 
as such, which does not belong to the whole mass. 



* See note C. 

4 



35 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



Where, then, I ask, is the propriety or truth of the sup- 
position, that some portions of matter have laws- which 
can produce man, and that others have no such laws 1 
But there is another objection. The supposition, even 
if it were true, would fail of securing its object. It 
would not account for man's existence without a 
creator. It would surely require some knowledge aad 
intelligence to separate those particles in which these 
mighty laws exist, from those in which they are not. 
Where, then, without admitting the existence of a God, 
will you find that mysterious agency, which shall dis- 
tinguish between the one and the other, and separate 
and arrange them in such a manner as to produce a 
thinking man? 

3. Suppose that these laws exist not in every particle 
of matter by itself, nor yet in some portions separately 
considered, but in the mass, taken as a whole :— 

To this supposition I urge the objection, that there 
are no facts for its support. There are no facts in 
reason or philosophy, upon which we can justly found 
the position, that the whole mass of matter, taken 
together, is subject to any other laws than those which 
may be found in its several parts. Take the earth, for 
instance, and there is not a shadow of evidence to 
show, that there are any laws in the universe of mat- 
ter, which do not exist in the earth. I believe it to be 
a fixed principle in philosophy, that all matter is sub- 
ject to the same general laws ; and, hence, I am not 
authorized to conclude, that the whole has any laws 
which do not exist in the several parts. 

But, in order fairly to test the question, whether the 
laws of matter are adequate to the production of such a 
being as man, I will suppose a case which we can 
easily conceive, and which will place the question 



EXISTENCE OF GOB. 



fully before you. Suppose the hand of destruction 
should pass over the face of the earth and obliterate 
every vestige of the human family. There is not now 
a solitary man upon this globe of earth. The question 
is, where are the laws of matter that will people earth 
again, and cause it to swarm with intelligent beings ? 
No law of matter would be affected by the destruction 
of every man that lives. The streams would flow, 
and vegetation flourish as it does at present. And yet, 
will any man contend, that there are laws of matter 
which would repeople the earth ? I think not. But 
why ? If it has been peopled once by the simple ope- 
ration of its own laws, why might it not be again ? 
But, I ask, where is the evidence, that such laws exist, 
save in the vain imaginations of men ? If matter pos- 
sesses those ever-active and enduring laws that are 
capable of giving birth to man, without the aid of any 
extraneous power or intelligence, then why is it, that 
men are not found rushing into life in those regions 
where human footsteps never trod? Why are not 
sages in wisdom struck from the flinty rock, or dug 
from the bowels of the earth ? Yea, why are not these 
mighty laws at work in the desolate wilderness, where 
human wanderers never strayed, peopling her solitudes 
and caves with the human species ? If there ever 
was a law of this kind, it either exists now, or it has 
been abolished. If there is now a law that can pro- 
duce man by any other means than ordinary generation, 
where is it? And echo answers, where? If there is 
now no such law, then when, and by whom, was it 
repealed or abolished ? 

There is still another point of view in which this 
subject may be presented. A man in health is struck 
dead, with a fit, or by the electric fluid ; and now, cold 



40 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



in the embrace of death, lies the same mass of matter, 
that composed the living man. Now if the principles 
of life, thought and knowledge, existed originally and 
independently in matter, that corpse would know as 
much and think as intensely, and act as powerfully as 
the living man. Should it be said that these laws had 
ceased their operation in consequence of the derange- 
ment of the corporeal system, caused by the fit or the 
electric shock; I reply, that this is changing the posi- 
tion. It is placing the origin of life and thought in 
organic structure and not in the inherent properties of 
matter. If this is the case, and the laws of matter, 
from which life and thought proceed, are developed 
only when its particles are disposed in a particular or- 
der, then I ask, and press the question for an answer, 
where is that mighty power, and wonder-working wis- 
dom which can arrange the systematic organization, 
necessary to produce life and thought ? Does that 
wisdom exist in matter antecedent to its organization ? 
Surely not, for the position just taken was, that know- 
ledge and thought were dependant upon organic struc- 
ture, and of course they cannot exist before the 
structure is formed, more than an effect can precede 
its cause in any other instance. Where, then, again I 
ask, is that searching wisdom which forms an organi- 
zation, in accordance with nature's laws, with such 
wonderful precision, that dead matter thinks and acts ? 
It is evident, that even this theory if it were true, would 
fail of accounting for the existence of man, without ad- 
mitting a pre-existing intelligence. I repeat, that man 
is not necessarily self-existent, and hence, that there 
was a time when he began to exist. The beginning 
and continuance of his existence depend upon some 
cause. Grant, that the continuance of life and thought 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



41 



depend upon organic structure, and, that life began 
when the system was framed and properly organized; 
and yet, the difficulty is not removed.* There remains 
that same fatal and insuperable necessity for antece- 
dent knowledge and power to arrange the structure of 
the machine. It is alike opposed to every principle 
of reason and philosophy to suppose that blind, uncon- 
scious matter operated upon by nothing but its own 
blindness, should move itself and arrange its several 
parts in such order as to produce a living, reasoning 
man. If one should tell me that this house was built 
by the laws of matter, that the materials of which it is 
constructed moved and arranged themselves in the or- 
der in which you now see them, I should consider him 
a man of sound mind compared with that misguided 
mortal who, in his zeal to demolish the throne of God, 
hesitates not roundly to assert, that blind matter op- 
erated upon by nothing under heaven but its own laws, 
moved and arranged itself in such a manner as to pro- 
duce man, the masterpiece of the Creator's works. 
When I look at these walls and seats, even though I 
had not seen them in the process of erection, yet I 
should conclude that there was knowledge and design 
concerned in their construction. From the things them- 
selves I learn that there was a builder. So also, when 
I see these seats filled with listening auditors, I cannot, 
I dare not say that they all originated in a game of 
chance, and there was no thought or knowledge con- 
cerned in your creation. I dare not say, that " fear- 
fully and wonderfully" as we are made, all our aston- 
ishing powers of body and mind originated in a source 
where there was neither wisdom nor intelligence. 
From the things that are made, I learn the Maker's 



* See note D. 

4* 



42 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



power and Godhead, and upon every countenance be- 
fore me I see the imprint of God's forming hand, giving 
me to understand that it was " He that made us, and 
not we ourselves." 

There is a subterfuge to which men sometimes flee 
when hard pushed in the argument relative to the ori- 
gin of man, which remains yet to be examined. I beg 
pardon, but I cannot regard it in any other light than 
the veriest subterfuge. But here it is. It is said, that 
there is a continued and uninterrupted succession of 
grades in the scale of being, from those that are but one 
remove from inanimate matter, up to those who are 
endued with the most enlarged and wonderful powers 
of mind. From the polypus up to man, there is an un- 
interrupted chain of progression in the scale of being, 
the different links of which are so nearly allied as to 
render it difficult to decide where the one begins and 
the other ends. The most perfect in one grade come 
very near or perhaps exceed the least perfect in the 
next succeeding grade, so that it is difficult, if not im- 
possible to fix the line of distinction. Thus, for in- 
stance, the most knowing among the monkey-tribes, 
come very near or exceed in point of intellect, the least 
intelligent of the human race. It is further alleged, 
that there is a constant improvement going on in each 
of these grades of being. Hence the conclusion is 
drawn, that some hundreds of thousands of years ago, 
man might have been a very different being from what 
he is at present, and that he has progressed from an in- 
ferior order of beings. 

I object to this theory upon the same ground that I 
have to several others. It is entirely hypothetical, be- 
ing destitute alike of reason or facts for its support. I 
grant you that there are all the different grades of being 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



43 



for which you contend, and that they are as ne|^|f 
allied as you please. But there is not one solitary fact 
upon which you can found the opinion that there is any 
such system of progression or improvement in opera- 
tion in the different grades, as the hypothesis assumes. 
If there is any thing in it that deserves even the name 
of plausibility, it all rests upon the position that there 
is an onward and upward progress in every grade of 
life. But there is no proof of this position. There are 
no facts that will go to prove that the dog, the ape, or 
the elephant, of the nineteenth century knows more, or 
is in any respect one step in advance of his progenitors 
beyond the flood. I should not dare affirm that there 
is a progressive improvement in the human species. It 
is true that individuals have in every age rose, by the 
cultivation of their powers to an eminence above their 
fellows. This was as true five thousand years ago as 
it is now, and I have no evidence that the great mass 
of mankind, have progressed one step, or that they 
differ materially from their forefathers. It has fre- 
quently happened, that one nation has improved for a 
season in the cultivation of their mental faculties, and 
rose to a high point of civilization ; but it has often hap- 
pened also, that this same nation has subsequently 
made a retrograde movement, and sunk as low as be- 
fore. There is not therefore, the least evidence that 
man has progressed ; and hence the foundation of the 
theory is laid in sheer assumption. But if there are no 
facts to sustain this theory, there are strong reasons to 
be put in the opposite scale. If this system of progres- 
sion is constantly in operation, we might reasonably 
expect that the deserts and solitudes of the earth would 
be peopled by those who are constantly coming out 
from the haunts and dens of the beast, to take their sta- 



EXISTENCE OF GOt). 



lion, and henceforward to rank with man. If there is 
a law or principle in operation, by virtue of which, sovie 
were transformed six thousand years ago, one would 
naturally suppose, it was high time that some more 
were coming into the ranks of manhood through the 
same door. But these things We do not see, and hence 
we hare a right to conclude that the theory is defec- 
tive. 

But I observe again, upon this subject, that even if 
we were to allow the truth of the system, it would fail 
of accounting for man's existence or removing the dif- 
ficulty, I lay before you the fact, that there was a 
time when man began to exist, as such, and I ask for 
the cause of that existence. I care not if the time was 
when he was as ignorant and inactive as the snail that 
"crawls in our evening path. I care not if he progressed 
from that to an ape, from an ape to a Hottentot, and 
from a Hottentot to a civilized man. There was still a 
time when he began to exist as man, and I ask for proof 
t>f the existence of a law of matter, that could produce 
him. It avails nothing to say, that he progressed from 
a lower order of beings. It merely removes the date 
of his existence a little further back without throwing 
a particle of light upon its cause. If it is insisted that 
man progressed from a lower grade of beings, I still 
have a right to demand proof, that there is some law 
of matter which will produce one of that lower grade, 
in some other way than by procreation ; and when that 
is done, I inquire for another law that will transform 
him into a man ! It would be a gratifying piece of in- 
telligence to me, and I doubt not to the world, to be 
informed what law of matter there is, which will first 
ereate an ape or an orang outang, and then metamor- 
phose him into a being endued with all the faculties 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



45 



of body and mind that belong to the human species. 
But I will not dwell here. If any men feel disposed 
to search for their ancestors among the beasts and 
creeping things of the earth, I will not deprive them of 
any honour which they may claim on account of their 
parentage ; neither will I contest the question of any 
real or supposed resemblance between the fathers and 
the children. But, "I pray thee, have me excused." 
Give me God for my father and you may have whom 
you will. I have now examined some of the inven- 
tions of men, which are designed to account for man's 
existence without the aid of an intelligent Creator, and 
I proceed with the more direct and positive proof, that 
there is truth in that Scripture which saith, " God cre- 
ated us, and not we ourselves." 

We are in truth wonderfully made, and we need but 
examine our own frames to find abundant proof that 
we came from the hand of a wise master-builder. Our 
powers, both physical and intellectual, are precisely 
fitted to our circumstances, and nicely adapted to the 
world in which we live. Our bodily powers are just 
such as the circumstances of the case render necessary, 
and there is nothing superfluous or lacking. In, order 
to see the force of this argument, let any man suppose 
for a moment that he is clothed with omnipotence, and 
is about to bring into existence a race of intelligent be- 
ings, on purpose to live in just such a world as this. 
Let him bring all his wisdom and knowledge to bear 
upon this one point, to fit them for the sphere in which 
he intends to place them. Do you think he could do 
better than to take an exact copy from man ? Sup- 
pose you had power to alter the form, size, or mechan- 
ism of the human body, or to give it any* new organ 
which you please ; where would you alter it for the 



46 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



betteT, or what new appendage would you add ? For 
my life I cannot tell where I should begin, or what 
better I could make it. These general remarks speak 
loudly in favour of intelligence and design on the part 
<of the Creator of man, and lead us to anticipate clear 
proof on the detail of particulars. 

It would be impossible for me in the space allotted 
for these discourses, to enter largely into an examin- 
ation of particular parts of the body. Besides, I fear 
such -a work would possess little interest. I therefore 
select one point, and that a very simple one. It is that 
useful organ the eye. It was necessary that man should 
see, and without this power he would have been a most 
miserable, helpless being. We are furnished with 
eyes, with which we see. Whether they were made 
for that purpose, or whether they came by chance, you 
will judge. It is certain, however, that we have eyes, 
and that we use them for the purpose of seeing. The 
sun shines to enlighten the earth, and it was not only 
necessary for us to have eyes, but it was also necessary 
chat they should be of a particular construction, so as 
to correspond with the measure of light which we at 
this distance receive from the sun. Any one who has 
experienced the pain produced by an excessively strong 
light will perceive at once, that eyes would have been 
worse than useless had they not been formed in re- 
ference to this circumstance. But after all, there 
are at different times and places different degrees of 
light, and much inconvenience would have been the 
result, had there not been a provision for this also. 
Now the human eye is exactly fitted for all these cir- 
cumstances, and is made precisely as we may suppose 
it would have been had some wise being constructed 
it on purpose for man's use. In the first place, it is not 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



47 



designed for a sphere where there is only one half or 
where there is twice as much light as we have on earth, 
for in such a case, this organ would he nearly useless. 
And then, the variations of light are provided for by 
the expedient of contracting and dilating the pupil in 
such a manner as to admit more rays when the light 
is faint, and less when it is strong. Should any one 
feel disposed to object, that man's eyes are not fitted 
for so great variations of light as occur between the day 
and the night, and ask why the eye was not so con- 
structed as to admit of seeing in the night? I answer 
that even here the wisdom of the Creator is seen. 
Man needs repose, and he passes his nights in sleep. 
There are animals, however, whose mode of life re- 
quires that they should see in the night. It is this 
which furnishes a reason why man's eyes should differ 
from those of birds and beasts of prey. But to return 
to our argument. There is no necessary connexion be- 
tween the shining of the sun and the construction of 
an eye, for the eye is formed in darkness. Nor is there 
any connexion between the measure of light which we 
enjoy in this world, and the formation of an eye of a 
certain and peculiar construction, for if there was, the 
owl's eye would be formed like a man's, or like those 
of the domestic fowl. The degree of light we have 
here depends upon our distance from the sun. But 
will any man contend that the earth's distance from 
the sun has any bearing in forming the eye in such a 
manner as to correspond with the degree of light into 
which it is to emerge ? I trust not. Why then is the 
eye so constructed ? I can give no answer without 
admitting intelligence and design, for blind chance or 
unconscious matter would as soon have made a man 
without eyes as with them, or have given him those of 



48 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



one construction as readily as another.* An excellent 
writer has truly observed, that "the human eye is as 
much an instrument, and is formed on as purely me- 
chanical and philosophical principles as the telescope. 
Its use is to collect the rays of light and cast an image 
of surrounding objects upon a net of nerves prepared 
for that purpose, from which the sense of seeing is con- 
veyed to the brain, by means of the optic nerve/ 5 For 
this use the eye is formed, and to this end all its parts 
are wisely and nicely adapted. The telescope is made 
upon precisely the same principles, and the inventor 
of that noble instrument took his hint from the struc- 
ture of the eye. Xow we look at the telescope and 
examine its different parts, and we admire the skill of 
the maker ; for we never doubt that it was made by 
some intelligent being. And yet there are men who 
will look upon the human eye. and though it is the 
original of which the telescope is but an imperfect copy, 
and though its construction is far more nice and wise, 
they will still contend that it is the work of chance, 
and there was no knowledge or design in its formation. 
Now I contend that every argument which will prove 
that there was intelligence and design concerned in the 
construction of the one will bear with equal force in 
favour of the other also. I know of no reason to be- 
lieve the telescope was designed to assist the sight, 
which will not also prove that the eye was made to see 
with. If there was design, then there must have been 
a designer, and if so. there is a God. 

It has been well said that a number of instances 
might accumulate proof, but that one sound argument 
is enough to establish a given point. Here tben I take 
my stand, and as it is my purpose to study brevity as 



• See note E. 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



49 



much as is consistent, I present this one case alone, 
t know it is but one out of countless multitudes of ar- 
guments of the same nature which might be drawn 
from a consideration of the human frame, and yet lam 
willing to say, if there was nothing else, this would be 
sufficient to brand with falsehood any and every system 
which teaches that there was no design or intelligence 
concerned in the production of man. There is no 
chance for evasion here. It cannot be contended in 
this instance as in some others, that the construction 
of the organ, determined the use which should be made 
of it. It will not do to say that man found eyes very 
convenient to see with, and so he concluded to use them 
for that purpose. Such reasoning will not answer, 
because eyes are good for nothing but seeing, and there 
is no other imaginable use to which the creature could 
put them. And moreover, the power of seeing is one 
that could not be dispensed with, for man must see or 
he perishes.* I present the Atheist with this one case, 
and I ask for an explanation. How happens it that men 
have eyes at all ? How happens it that they are pre- 
cisely of that peculiar construction which the circum - 
stances of the case rendered necessary ? How comes 
it to pass, that an instrument formed in darkness is 
nicely adapted to the purpose of seeing in that measure 
of light which the sun affords at this precise distance 1 
How is it, that the variations in the degree of light are 
provided for by means of the contraction and dilation 
of the pupil ? Why, after all, were these eyes not 
placed upon the back side of the head, in preference to 
the side towards which the construction of his limbs 
rendered it necessary that he should walk? Why 
were man's eyes not constructed like the owl's, so that 



* See note F, 

5 



50 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



be could see better in tbe night than the day 1 These 
are questions that the Atheist ought to be able to an- 
swer; and mysteries which he ought to explain. The 
man who will do this will do more towards shaking my 
faith in God than ever yet has been done. If any mor- 
tal man will undertake this work, I will listen with 
patience, and all possible candour to his arguments, 
and when he has done, if I cannot controvert his posi- 
tions I will take the fearful leap into the marvellous 
darkness of Atheism. But until the wisdom of this 
world gives a more rational and satisfactory account 
of this matter, I shall be content with the scriptural 
solution which gives me to understand that the hand 
of a wise Creator was engaged in the work, and "it 
was He that made us, and not we ourselves. 55 

The objection so often urged against these views of 
the origin of man, that we cannot form full conceptions 
of such a God, or comprehend his self-existent eternity 
of duration, has no weight with me. My faculties are 
and must be limited in their sphere of operation. With 
the utmost stretch of imagination itself I am able to 
grasp but a span, and hence if these faculties could 
comprehend a being, he would not be a God. I can- 
not form an adequate idea of infinite space nor com- 
prehend endless duration, and yet I never dreamed of 
offering this as a valid reason for denying either the 
one or the other. It were then as manifestly absurd 
to contend that there is no God, because I cannot com- 
prehend the fulness of his infinite nature, as it would 
be to argue that there can be no such distance as a 
mile, because a Gunter 5 s chain will not measure it at 
once. The truth is, if the chain would measure it, it 
would be no longer a mile. So if my faculties could 
comprehend the Creator, he would be no longer God. 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



51 



Sound philosophy recognises the existence of a God 
notwithstanding his being is not fully comprehended, 
and enlightened reason acknowledges him as creation's 
Lord and Maker. I know that men have in these latter 
days, discarded the idea of a God, professedly upon the 
authority of reason and philosophy. But in my humble 
opinion it is a philosophy which overlooks the plainest 
principles of truth ; and a reason, that denies conclu- 
sions resulting from the most obvious facts. True 
philosophy teaches man his own ignoranee, and ac- 
knowledges her inability to unfold all the mysteries of 
creation ; and sound reason lays the richest trophies 
of her victories over ignorance, at the feet of him who 
rules over all. But this pretended philosophy which 
denies the Lord of heaven and earth, would flatter hu- 
man pride and make a pigmy mortal to think himself 
the only wise : and this boasted reason would exalt it- 
self above all that is called God on the earth. 

It remains to apply our subject thus far, to the main 
object of these lectures, which, as I have more than 
once stated, is to prove the truth of the Sacred Scrip- 
tures. The argument is this. The Scriptures teach, 
that there is a God who created the human family, and 
endued them with all their powers both of body and 
mind. If then I have proved this to be the only ra- 
tional and true method of accounting for man's exist- 
ence, with the same certainty I have proved that so 
much of the Bible as teaches this doctrine is truth. It 
will perhaps be said, that there may be a God, and yet 
that the Bible is not a revelation from Him. Have it 
so if you choose. But I present you with the fact that 
there is a God, sustained as it is by the clearest and 
plainest teachings of reason, and I have a right to claim 
ijoiir assent to its truth, thus far. " There is a God all 



52 



EXISTENCE OF GOD. 



nature cries aloud, 55 and when David said, " it is He that 
hath made us, and not we ourselves, 55 he told a sober 
truth. Whether David cr some other person wrote 
these psalms, I will not pause to inquire. But I contend 
that the writer, whoever he may have been, and the 
other writers of Scripture, be they whom you please, 
give us the onlv reasonable account of the origin of man, 
that ever has been given. When they founded their 
doctrines, and the obligations of obedience to moral 
precepts, upon the principle that God is our Creator, 
they begun like workmen who need not to be ashamed 
of their work. They laid the foundation upon an eter- 
nal rock against which the floods of infidelity beat in 
vain. 



DISCOURSE IV. 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. 

Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any ; He is mighty ill 
strength and wisdom. Job xxxvi. 5. 

My previous discourses have been designed to show 
that the testimony of Scripture in relation to the exist- 
ence of God, who is the Creator of all things 5 is sus- 
tained and sanctioned by the voice of nature, reason, 
and true philosophy. How far I have succeeded in this 
attempt, it becomes not me to say. I am sensible that 
it is a boundless field, and that I should be under the 
necessity of leaving much of it unexplored, even were 
I to protract my labours beyond the limits of your pa- 
tience. I have therefore merely glanced at some of its 
more prominent features, and must leave you to reflect 
at your leisure. I have concluded that there is, and 
there must be a God. I am now prepared to proceed 
one step further, by an attempt to prove that the attri- 
butes which the Scriptures ascribe to God are such as 
reason approves and nature sanctions. 

L The Bible teaches that God is Almighty. 

Throughout the whole of its instructions it represents 
Him as being in the undivided possession of power that 
yields to no control, and pauses at no obstacles that 
may stand in the way of its mighty workings. In this 
respect, the God of the Bible differs from all other gods. 
I believe there is no one, in all the catalogue of pagan 
deities, for whom his worshippers claim omnipotence, 
5* 



54 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD, 



in the same sense in which the Scriptures ascribe it to 
God, The Romans had a god to whom they gave the 
title oi u pater omrdpotensp or omnipotent father, and 
yet it would seem, that they intended by this to convey 
the idea that he was more powerful than any other of 
their gods, rather than that he was absolutely and 
strictly omnipotent. It requires but a limited acquaint- 
ance with their mythology to know, that though they 
called him omnipotent, yet they believed his power 
was often thwarted, in a greater or less degree, and 
sometimes completely baffled, in the execution of his 
purposes. But it is not so with the representations 
of Deity contained in the Bible. Whatever his arm 
findeth to do is done, and no obstacle can hinder for one 
moment the progress of his work. He utters his au- 
thoritative mandate and the heavens and the earth hear 
and obey. He speaks and it is done; he commands 
and it stands fast. These are the views of God's power 
w r hich pervade the testimony of the patriarchs, proph- 
ets and apostles ; nor do they once appear to have 
harboured the thought that any thing could be too great 
for God to do. The point to which I direct your atten- 
tion is, that these are reasonable and just conceptions 
of God. 

I deem it unnecessary to dwell at great length upon 
this part of the subject, for the evidences of God's 
mighty power are so conspicuously exhibited on the 
face of nature around us, that they cannot escape the 
notice of the most superficial observer. Admitting the 
truth of the position which I have laboured to establish 
that God exists, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion 
that he is omnipotent. It is a fixed principle in philos- 
ophy, that the stream cannot rise higher than the foun- 
tain, or an effect be superior to its cause. If therefore it 



P&WM AND WISDOM OF GO©, 



65 



is admitted, that there is a God, who is the fountain of 
all things, and the first cause of their existence, it must 
necessarily follow, that he is superior to all things, and 
able to control all the effects of his own power. It 
were perfectly unreasonable to suppose that God would 
or could create any thing superior to himself, or bring 
into existence any power or combination of powers 
which should rise above the might of his creating arm. 
But not to insist upon this ; the magnitude and the ex- 
tent of creation's works speak of a power in their Cre- 
ator and Governor, vastly above the grasp of man's 
feeble intellect. Reflect for one moment upon the stu- 
pendous fabric of the universe. Look at the lofty 
mountain whose hoary head is reared above the clouds ? 
and think of the power which piled its ponderous rocks 
and fashioned its rugged sides. Go, stand by the side 
of the ocean, whose waves lash the shore, and whose 
feillows laugh at man's puny efforts for their control ; 
and think of that voice which is able to say with au- 
thority that must be obeyed, " Thus far shait thou go, 
and no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be 
stayed." Then muse upon the earth in its vast extent, 
its wonderful movements, and its onward and still on- 
ward course ; and think of the power that weigheth the 
mountains in scales and the dust in a balance ; that 
moulded the earth in the hollow of his hand, and hurled 
it from his throne to pursue the even tenor of its way 
about the sun for ages on ages, with strict obedience to 
its Creator's will. To work these wonders would re- 
quire power more than tongue can express or imagin- 
ation conceive. But what are these ? They are but 
the beginning of the ways of God. That towering 
mountain before which the beholder stands with feel- 
ings of awe, is in fact an elevation so inconsiderable, 



50 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD- 



that it would escape the notice of the eye that could 
survey the earth at a glance. The rolling ocean, with 
all its vast extent, is but the drop of a bucket when 
compared with the universe, and the earth itself but a 
speck, an atom in the immensity of creation. Far be- 
yond this nether world, suns and planets roll and sys- 
tems on systems move obedient to the Creator's will, 
and such is their magnitude and number, that to blot 
the earth from the map of existence, would be like the 
extinguishing of a taper in the midst of a thousand 
suns. I ask you to reflect upon these things origi- 
nating as they all do in God, the author of all, and tell 
me if the Bible does but repeat the voice of nature and 
reason, when it says that "^owerbelongethunto God." 
Surely to ascribe the origin and government of these 
worlds and systems of worlds to a weak or powerless 
God, is to violate common sense, and overlook the 
plainest principles of philosophical investigation. I 
therefore conclude that there is truth in the Scriptures 
which teach the omnipotence of God, and presuming 
that no one who believes in a God, or is willing to ad- 
mit his existence, will deny his power, I dismiss this 
part of the subject and remark 

II. The Scriptures teach that God is unsearchable 
in wisdom. 

I use the term wisdom to denote the highest perfec- 
tion of knowledge, embracing not merely the cogni- 
zance of things as they are, and a knowledge of the 
end from the beginning, but that consummate skill, 
which in the right use of knowledge adapts means to 
ends with such infallible precision that there is no pos- 
sibility of a failure or disappointment. This is wisdom, 
and the Scriptures every where teach, that it belongs 
to God, and dwells richly and fully in him alone. You 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. 



57 



are doubtless aware, that the heathen world represent 
their gods as committing various mistakes, and fre- 
quently failing of the accomplishment of their designs 
for lack of wisdom in the choice of means for the at- 
tainment of a given end. But it is not so with the God 
of the Bible. His knowledge pervades and compre- 
hends all things, and his wisdom chooses, and his 
power applies, those means which are invariably suc- 
cessful in the accomplishment of the desired end. My 
object is lo show that this doctrine of the Bible is also 
the doctrine of reason, nature and providence. 

1. Let us hear the voice of reason. 

There is no doubt, that knowledge and wisdom do 
actually exist. However limited our knowledge, there 
are some things which we do know, and however er- 
ring our wisdom, yet some small share of it falls to the 
lot of man. The question is, how came man to be 
wise ? There are one of two things which must be 
regarded as infallibly certain. Either wisdom has ex- 
isted from all past eternity, or there was a time when 
there was no wisdom. If we say there was a time 
when there was no wisdom, the question arises, what 
cause was capable of originating such an effect ? I 
think I have before shown, that there are no laws of 
matter which are capable of producing knowledge, 
thought or wisdom, and hence it will become necessary 
to look for this cause in something else, rather than in 
mere matter. A modern infidel has put forth his creed 
in this form : " I believe there is no knowledge where 
there is no sense, and no sense without bodily organ- 
ization, and hence that bodily organization is the cause 
and not the effect of knowledge." I quote from mem- 
ory and may not have quoted the precise language, but 
I think I have preserved the substance of the creed, 



58 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. 



How dead matter without the least sense or knowledge 
could arrange itself into a bodily organization capable 
of producing sense and thought and wisdom, is a mys- 
tery which must be explained by wiser heads than 
mine. I confess that such knowledge is too deep for 
me. According to my imperfect conceptions of things 
it would require some knowledge, and not a little wis- 
dom, to take blind, dead, senseless, thoughtless matter, 
and move and arrange it in a bodily organization suffi- 
ciently nice to originate sense, thought and knowledge. 
If bodily organization is the cause of knowledge, we 
have still a right to ask, what is the cause of bodily 
organization 7 It is either the effect of pre-existent 
knowledge, or it originated in mere chance. But we 
have before proved that neither chance nor the laws 
of matter could produce such an organization and cause 
ft to think and reason. Hence we conclude that wis- 
dom and knowledge have existed from eternity. The 
tree is known by its fruit, and the fountain by the wa- 
ters that it sends forth. If the fruit is knowledge, so is 
the tree ; if the streams are wise so must be the foun- 
tain. It were as unreasonable as it is unphilosophical 
to say, that all those streams of knowledge that so 
richly water the earth, flow from a fountain in which 
there is nothing but the blindness of ignorance. The 
conclusion of reason is, that the source from which all 
knowledge and wisdom proceed, must itself be wise 
and knowing, and that too, in a greater degree than 
any of his creatures. To me at least it is evident, that 
it takes knowledge to produce knowledge, and hence 
from all eternity there must have been knowledge, else 
man would not possess it, for it exists in man not as an 
original cause, but an effect of some cause. If there- 
fore wisdom is eternal, in whom has it existed from 



POWER AND WISDOM OP GOD. 



59 



eternity 1 Not in man surely, for he is but of yester- 
day, but in God, who alone is eternal. There is so 
much of good sense and true philosophy in the words 
which the wise man puts into the mouth of wisdom, 
and they accord so perfectly with the conclusion above 
drawn, that I cannot forbear quoting the passage. In 
the eighth chapter of Proverbs wisdom is personified 
and made to speak after this manner: " The Lord pos- 
sessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works 
of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the begin- 
ning, or ever the earth was. * * When he prepared the 
heavens, I was there. When he set a compass upon 
the face of the depths ; when he established the clouds 
above; when he strengthened the fountains of the deep*; 
when he gave the sea his decree, that the waters shouM 
not pass his commandment ; when he appointed the 
foundations of the earth ; then I was by him, as one 
brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, re- 
joicing always before him." Thus the Bible teaches 
the eternal wisdom of God, and enlightened reason 
sanctions the word. 

2. I propose to examine the works of nature for the pur- 
pose of showing that they also teach the wisdom of God. 

There is no better way of viewing any matter of 
which we desire to obtain clear and correct notions, 
than in the contrast with its opposite. May I not then 
be allowed to attempt a contrast between that wisdom 
which appears in creation, and the foolishness of man 
in his wisest operations ? It is especially worthy of 
remark in the outset, that all those productions of hu- 
man skill which exhibit the wisdom of man in its ut- 
most profundity, have their patterns in the works of 
God : and the nearer they approximate the original the 
greater is their perfection and utility. Take as an ex- 



60 POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. 

ample, that wonderful instrument the telescope. You 
know its invention was hailed as a triumph of human 
wisdom over the obstacles that the immensity of space 
had reared full and impassable in the way of man's 
progress in knowledge. And yet every man knows 
that it is but copied from an eye, and that it is formed 
with infinitely less perfection upon the same mechan- 
ical and philosophical principles, and owes its utility 
only to its resemblance of the original pattern found in 
the works of God. The same is true of those other 
works of art which from time to time have excited the 
admiration of the world. Men have prided themselves 
upon that wisdom which has enabled them to construct 
a ship to sail the ocean, and thus triumph over the ob- 
stacles that the deep waters interposed against the in- 
tercourse of man with his fellow man. But you may 
take the most gallant ship that ever ploughed the ocean, 
and if you inquire why it leaves its compeers far be- 
hind, the mariner w T ill tell you it is because the 
builder had wisdom enough to take his copy from » 
silly goose, w r hich God Almighty had made and placed 
upon the waters. So it is with every effort of man's 
wisdom, in all the arts. The whole system of me- 
chanical powers must look to nature and confess, that 
it owes its existence and perfection to patterns presented 
in the works of God. So of the noble arts of painting 
and sculpture. God made the original, and man with 
a trembling, erring hand, sketches out a copy. The 
noblest efforts of genius in the arts, the finest touches 
of the painter's pencil or the sculptor's chisel, have 
never been able to produce any thing more than faint 
resemblances in colour and form of the works of God. 
And yet man boasts of wisdom on account of these his 
rude and half-finished works. 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. 



61 



But it is not the arts alone that must bow and con- 
fess the superior wisdom of God. The sciences too, 
and sage philosophy at their head, must bend in meek 
submission before him, and confess that their highest 
efforts have only been able to trace out those lines that 
have long been marked by the ringer of God. The 
world has admired the wisdom of Newton ; and as a 
man, no doubt he was wise. But what after all did 
Newton do, or what has philosophy ever done ? Sim- 
ply this. She has examined the works of God and 
discovered a handful of facts concerning them. Nearly 
six thousand years had the earth rolled upon her axis 
and wound her circles round the sun, and yet foolish 
man did not know it. Newton with a giant mind 
traced out its course, and the world calls him wise ! 
But if it is wisdom to follow on in a path which has 
been trod for six thousand years, how unsearchable are 
the depths of that wisdom which dwells m God, who, 
through the trackless immensity of space, first marked 
that path with his finger, and launched the ponderous 
earth from his throne to pursue her winding way for 
ages, without a hair's breadth of deviation? But I 
leave this view of the subject and come to a more close 
examination of the works of nature, or rather of na- 
ture's God, as affording clear proof of astonishing wis- 
dom. 

There are in the solar system a number of planets, 
all receiving light and heat from one grand source, the 
sun. The object to be obtained is, that all these plan- 
ets may receive in all their parts, light and heat from 
one fountain. Now look at the means which are em- 
ployed to secure this object. The sun is placed in the 
centre, and that is precisely the spot where it should be 
to secure the desired end, by the most easy and natural 
6 



62 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. 



process. But the work is not yet done. The sun and 
planets are now formed, and stand immoveable in their 
places. You readily perceive that only one side of 
them would receive the sun's rays. The object now 
is to enlighten them on all sides, and the means w T hich 
God has employed for this purpose are the best ima- 
ginable. To move the sun round each of the planets in 
such a manner as to enlighten all sides would have 
been impossible, for in that case there must have been 
as many suns as planets. How then is the end at- 
tained ? Simply by giving to each planet a rotary 
motion on its axis. By this simple process each side 
is presented to the sun in its turn, and feels the warmth 
of his genial rays. But there is another difficulty to be 
met. The materials of the earth needed the power of 
attraction, in order to keep its several parts compacted. 
This attraction would have drawn the earth to the sun 
had there been nothing to counterbalance its influence. 
The object now is to preserve it at its proper distance 
from the sun, and the means are at hand. God gave 
it a projectile movement, by which it acquires a cen- 
trifugal force, exactly sufficient to counterbalance its 
tendency to the sun. So nicely and exactly does the 
momentum correspond with the amount of attractive 
power, that for ages man has not been able to discover 
any sensible deviation from that line in which it moved 
at first. Again, had the axis of the earth been directly 
perpendicular to the plain of its orbit, in some parts, 
eternal winter would have reigned in all its horrors ; 
in others, perpetual spring 5 and still in others, the frosts 
of autumn. The object is to produce the pleasing va- 
riety of the seasons ; and for this purpose the axis 
stands inclined to the plane of the ecliptic. By this 
simple exoedient, even the poles are in turn cheered 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. 



63 



with the warmth of summer, and all the delightful 
changes of the seasons are effected. Had this inclina- 
tion of the earth's axis been greater than it is, the 
changes would have been sudden from extreme heat 
to extreme cold, and had it been less, the changes 
would have been too slow and small for the purposes 
of vegetation, especially in the northern and southern 
climes. But as it is, how consummate the wisdom dis- 
played. The atheist may mock and ridicule the idea 
of an all-wise and intelligent Creator ; but if there is 
truth in existence, if our senses are not mediums of 
deception, then there was a workman employed in the 
construction of this vast machine, who knew how to 
adapt means to ends with a simplicity and efficiency 
that cannot fail or err. But I pass on. 

I will take the wisest man on earth. I will suppose 
that you are that man, and along with your wisdom you 
are possessed of almighty power, capable of calling 
into existence whatever you please. I will say no 
more of the wisdom displayed in the formation of the 
earth, or in its exact and due proportion of distance 
from the sun, its motion, seasons, day and night, and 
all that field of wonders. I pass these, and suppose 
you have created just such a world as this is, and the 
next thing is to people it. You wish to put on to its 
surface about eight hundred millions of human beings, 
and say five thousand times that number of inferior 
animals. They must be so made that all parts of the 
earth shall minister to their necessities, and there shall 
be nothing superfluous and nothing lacking. They 
must have eyes so constructed that they can see with 
the measure of light that the sun yields at this partic - 
ular distance. They must have bodies fitted to the 
temperature or they will freeze or burn. Those who 



64 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. 



live in air must have lungs suited to the density of the 
air or they will die. So also they must have food 
suited to the construction of their bodies, and they must 
not be so made that they will all desire one kind of 
food, for they could not obtain it; and a thousand other 
things of a like nature must be taken into consideration 
or the plan will fail. Besides all this, they must be 
fitted to live in different places, for they cannot all live 
in one place. Some must live in the air, or that will 
not be inhabited ; some in the water, or the sea will be 
desolate ; some on the fertile plains ; some on the moun- 
tains, and some on the rocks, or in the caves of the 
earth ; and others still must crawl in the dust : and 
day by day, these all must be fed and provided with 
the means of prolonging an existence. And to prevent 
the several kinds from becoming extinct, all these must 
be so organized that when they "shuffle off this mortal 
coil," they may leave their posterity behind, to take their 
places. Now I desire you in sober earnest to put your 
wisdom to the task, and see if you can devise any plan 
to do this better than God has done it. Nay, I ask, 
could you devise a plan that would by any means ac- 
complish all this ? Need I say it were impossible ? 
Nay, for yourselves also know, that all the wisdom of 
every man that ever lived, could it be concentrated in 
one single individual, would fail before the magnitude 
of a work so vastly and incomprehensibly above the 
grasp of his powers. And yet God has performed all 
these wonders, and the story of his wisdom is but just 
begun. Let us briefly review the ground that we have 
passed over. I have said that a being devoid of wis- 
dom would as soon have made the sun to go round the 
earth, as the earth to revolve on its axis, and present 
its different sides to the sun, and the effect would have 



i 



POWER AND WISDOM OF COD. 



been that there must have been as many suns as there 
were planets. An ignorant being or blind chance 
would as soon have given to the earth a momentum 
that would have sent it spinning in a tangent, beyond 
the fixed stars, to freeze with eternal cold, as to have 
regulated its momentum by its gravitation in such a 
manner, that its orbit should lie exactly in the place 
where the warmth of the sun would keep it in a proper 
temperature, 

An ignorant being or blind chance would as soon 
have sent the earth to wander beyond the orbit of the 
Georgium Sidus, where perpetual night to all its in- 
habitants would have reigned, and where streams and 
rivers would have ceased to flow, and the ocean itself 
been a mass of ice. Ignorance or chance would as 
soon have done this as to place it precisely at the dis- 
tance where the proportion of heat it contained and the 
temperature of its materials and inhabitants required 
that it should be. If the earth were created and an 
ignorant or unwise being was about to people it with 
life and intelligence, that ignorant creator w r ould as soon 
have fitted those beings to live on the planet Jupiter as 
on the earth. He would as soon have made them in 
such a manner that they would require twice the heat 
to keep them from freezing that now keeps them warm 
as in any other way; or would as soon have given 
them eyes of such a construction that they could not 
see without double the light we now have, as to have 
constructed that delicate organ to correspond with the 
measure of light the sun yields. Is there no wisdom 
in all this? Tell us ye wise ones, who believe the 
whole universe to be a void waste of ignorance, save 
what little knowledge man possesses; tell us who but 
a God of wisdom is sufficient for these things ? These . 
6* 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. 



•are but a few imperfect notices of the wisdom of God, 
that shines out from every page of the great volume of 
nature, which is always open before us. But I may as 
W T ell pause here as any where, for there is no end to 
the subject. All creation is full of the wisdom of its 
author. From the broad canopy above to the minutest 
object on earth, from man to the meanest reptile that 
grovels on the dust beneath our feet, there is an unin- 
terrupted chain of evidence, all tending to support the 
position, that in their formation there was employed 
wisdom compared with which the boasted knowledge 
of man is but foolishness. Were >ve to commence 
with an examination of the Behemoth of the wilderness 
or the Leviathan of the mighty deep, w r e should find 
the plainest indications of the same all-knowing wis- 
dom ; and descending in the scale of being downward, 
to the minutest insect that flits in the summer's breeze, 
we should find in that, and in every intermediate grade, 
the footsteps of the same God and the visible goings 
forth of the same infinite knowledge. But I pause ; 
and from the full convictions of my judgment I say 
with one of old— " His wisdom is infinite, and there is 
no searching of his understanding." 

We have concluded that God is powerful and wise, 
and the question will now be agitated, what has this 
to do with the truth or falsity of the Scriptures f I 
answer : the Scriptures teach the existence of a God 
and they uniformly represent that God as a being pos- 
sessed of almighty power and infinite wisdom. If 
therefore I have proved that wisdom and power belong 
to God, with the same certainty I have proved that the 
Scriptures are true which teach these doctrines. The 
sceptic may lift his menacing hand against the priest- 
hood and denounce the Bible as a book of jugglery or 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. 

a cunningly-devised fable, and bid stout defiance to m 
its truths. But one thing I will tell you ; priests did 
not make the universe, nor did they teach the sun and 
stars and earth and waters what language to speak. 
No, no. The lessons written there were written by 
the finger of the Creator ; and standing as I am con- 
scious I do upon the immoveable basis of immortal 
truth, I present you with the stubborn fact, that the 
Scriptures and the works of nature hold forth the same 
language and bear united testimony to the mighty 
pow^r and wisdom of God ; and if you deny the one 
you must deny the other, and if you believe the one you 
must believe the other also. I present you with the 
Bible which teaches and lays the foundation of all its 
doctrines upon the position that there is an all-powerful 
and an all-wise God, and I call on the heavens and the 
earth, the seas and fountains of water, and all that in 
them are, to bear witness to its truth. You may call 
the book what you will, but these truths you cannot 
overthrow. They are written upon the stars, and 
stamped with the indelible impress of God's forming 
hand upon the face of every thing that our eyes behold. 
The movements of the heavenly bodies in the firma- 
ment above, the revolutions of the earth, the alternate 
succession of day and night, and the changes of the 
seasons, the inhabitants of the earth with all that in- 
numerable multitude of beings that walk upon its sur- 
face, creep in its dark bosom and sport in its deep 
waters, or cut the ambient air; all these with their 
adaptation to their appropriate spheres, and the pro- 
visions for their comfort, speak in language too plain 
to be misunderstood, the existence, the power and the 
wisdom of God. These are not the words of decep- 
tion, nor do they come from juggling priests or base 



rl ^1 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOB", 

Jnpostures. They come fresh from the voice of Ha* 
ture, and drop in holy accents from the heavens and re-* 
sound from every mountain and rock and plain of earth, 
Here again I may be met with the objection that 
there may be a vise and powerful God and yet the 
Bible may not be a revelation from him. I repeat again 
what I have more than once said, I am not contending 
about names. All I contend is, that it is true. What- 
ever may be its origin, I maintain that it teaches truth, 
naked and incontrovertible truth. I point you to the 
doctrine of an omniscient and omnipotent God, the 
Creator of all things. I lay before you the Bible which 
teaches this as its fundamental principle. I point you 
to the most indubitable proof in the works of creation, 
which stare you in the face, that such a God does ex- 
ist, and in the name of consistency and reason, I de- 
mand, and have a right to demand, your assent to three 
of the fundamental principles of Bible theology. First, 
the existence ; second, the power ; and third, the wis- 
dom of God. 

Perhaps the deist of the more moderate stamp may feel 
disposed to object after this manner. He believes in 
a God, and confesses that his power and wisdom are 
conspicuously exhibited upon the face of nature. In- 
deed they are so plainly delayed there, that a revela- 
tion is unnecessary and useless. I answer, not so. 
The heavenly bodies moved in the same order before 
the days of Newton and the invention of the telescope 
that they do now, and yet man did not find it out. Now 
no man will contend that the writings of Newton are 
useless because the enlightened philosopher can see 
and trace out the movement of the heavenly bodies. 
So here there is no propriety in saying that the Bible is 
useless simply because the enlightened Christian can 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. 



69 



trace out the character of God in nature. The world 
was as profoundly ignorant of God, before the intro- 
duction of the Bible as it was of the true motion of the 
heavenly bodies before the days of Newton. When 
Newton made known his theory, facts that had hith- 
erto remained unnoticed or unexplained rose up and 
testified to its truth. In like manner, when the Bible 
had revealed the true character of God, ten thousand 
facts rose up and declared that it was even so. Since 
Newton's day, it is an easy matter to prove that the 
earth is globular, and the sun stationary instead of 
moving about the earth. With his discoveries before 
us, we easily trace out the orbits of the heavenly bodies 
and tell the times and seasons of each. The Bible is 
nature's interpreter, and when once it informs us, that 
there is a God of power omnipotent, and wisdom un- 
searchable, we can then see in things that were before 
unexplained, the wonders of his power and the infinity 
of his wisdom. But was it ever done without the Bi- 
ble ? Let Moloch's brazen god and India's cursed 
Juggernaut answer that question. Nay, let along line 
of sages who with all the science of earth have lived 
and died profoundly ignorant of God, tell us that it is 
to the Bible and the Bible alone we are indebted for 
the light of truth in relation to the being and the char- 
acter of God. 

I am perfectly willing to grant, that there are deists 
who entertain tolerably just views of God, and appeal- 
ing to nature, they will discourse of his perfections in 
terms that would do honour to a Christian. But when 
they claim these as their own discoveries and contend 
that they learned them from nature, without the aid of 
revelation, we must beg leave to dissent. That they 
are not original interpretations of nature's voice is evi- 



70 



POWER ASD WISDOM OF GOD. 



dent from the fact that even such views of God as 
deists advocate were strangers on earth until they came 
in the Bible, and that even now they are unknow r n the 
world over, save where the Bible is known and read. 
Suffer me to tell you. that had it not been for that Bible 
which you despise. you, who now boast of philosophy 
and adore the God of nature, would have been where 
your fathers were, and where your brethren now are, 
groping in the darkness of pagan idolatry, and bowing 
before stocks and stones. "Where is the nation which 
has learned from nature, without the aid of the Bible, 
to worship the God of the modern deist ? There is no 
such nation under heaven. The truth is. the deist has 
been raised from the darkness of idolatry and ignorance 
by the influence of the Bible. He has been educated 
under the warm and enlivening rays of that light which 
shines from the sacred volume, and all that is good or 
true in his theory of God is borrowed, nay, stolen, from 
the sacred book ; and now, having grown wise in his 
own conceit, he turns and with viper fang wounds the 
benefactor who has warmed and cherished him. But 
let this pass. 

To the existence of such a God as I have described 
there is still another objection that deserves a passing 
notice. It is said that we can form no just conceptions 
of any being having power and intelligence distinct 
from matter, or that we can know T nothing of a spiritual 
existence. No one can tell what God is, or explain 
the mode of his existence. We see man, for he is ma- 
terial and tangible, and we know what he is, but we 
cannot see a spirit and therefore can know nothing 
about such a being. To this I reply, that we know 
nothing about matter, save its qualities and effects. We 
know precisely as much of the nature of mind or spirit 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD, 



71 



as we do of matter. What do we know about matter? 
Why we know a few of its qualities. If I were to ask 
you what matter is, you would say that it is any thing 
that has solidity, inertness, &c. But what is the real 
essence of the thing itself, is a subject upon which we 
are as profoundly ignorant as we are of the inhabitants 
of the planets. Now we know some of the qualities 
of mind. It reasons and thinks, and we see its effects, 
but of the thing itself, and the mode of its existence, 
we have no knowledge. But did any man ever deny 
the existence of matter because he could find out noth- 
ing more about it than some of its qualities ? Why 
then should we deny the existence of God because we 
can know no more of him than what we discover in 
his works and the effects of his power. Who by search- 
ing can find out God? is a question which has been 
made the pretext of much scepticism. Who by search- 
ing can find out matter? is another question upon which 
men do not seem to have reflected. I can tell you as 
definitely what God is as you can tell me what matter 
is. What is matter ? Why it is a substance that has 
form and extension, and inertness and solidity. Well 
what constitutes the real essence of the thing itself ? 
There you must stop. What is God ? I answer, he 
is a being who possesses wisdom and power and good- 
ness. Well, what constitutes the essence of this being ? 
There / must stop. But mind you, if my inability to 
answer your question is a good reason why you should 
reject the existence of God, then I contend, that your 
inability to answer my question, is precisely as good a 
reason why / should reject the existence of matter. 
Come, let us compromise this business. I confess that 
1 know nothing of the omniscient mind save its quali- 
ties and operations. You must confess that you know 



72 



POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. 



nothing of matter save its qualities and operations. Of 
its real essence you are as profoundly ignorant, as I 
am of the nature of God. Why then do you believe 
that there is any matter in the universe ? It is because 
you know some of its properties. Do you ask why I 
believe there is a God in heaven ? I answer, because I re- 
cognise the attributes and operations of the Eternal mind 
in the works of nature around me. I behold the won- 
ders of his power, and the unsearchable depths of his 
wisdom exercised and displayed, in the construction 
and movement of the vast machine of the universe. If 
it is credulity in me to believe in God upon such evi- 
dence as this, then it is also credulity in you to believe 
that there is matter, upon the same kind of evidence ; 
for be it remembered, that ail you know or can know 
of matter, is its properties, and of the substance of the 
thing itself, you are, and must ever be, utterly ignorant.* 



• See note F. 



DISCOURSE V. 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 

The eartli is full of the goodness of the Lord. 

Psalms xxxiii. 5. 

The subject of this discourse will be readily sug- 
gested to your minds by the text. It is the goodness 
of God. Those who are familiar with the contents of 
the Bible, are aware that God is therein said to be 
good, and this doctrine is perhaps more emphatically 
and repeatedly set forth than any other. There is also 
one circumstance connected with it that renders it pe- 
culiarly interesting. I allude to the fact, that this 
goodness is declared to be as extensive as the works 
of his hands. In this particular the goodness of that 
God which the Bible presents as the object of our- ad- 
oration, differs materially from what is ascribed to any 
other god that man ever worshipped or feared; Hea- 
thens call their gods good, but you will always observe 
that their goodness is confined within narrow limits, or 
is of very questionable character. It is not so with the 
God of the Bible. u He is good to all and his tender 
mercies are over all his works." The whole earth is 
full of that goodness, and from its impartial favour no 
creature is an outcast. Moreover, he is good in a 
higher and holier sense than any other being. While 
in the character of all intelligent creatures, there are 
mingled shades of good and ill, in him there is naaght 
7 



11 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



to detract from the infinite fulness and glory of his 
adorable goodness. The object of this discourse is to 
show that this doctrine of the Bible bears an harmonious 
correspondence to the teachings of nature, as presented 
in the visible works of creation, and also to the lessons 
of experience, gathered from the dealings of God's 
providence with the creatures of his power. If I am 
able to show you that the goodness of God is taught in 
nature and providence, I shall then have succeeded in 
proving that one more of the pillars in the temple of 
the gospel, is based upon a rock that cannot be moved. 
I now proceed to the work before me. 

I. I am to show that nature teaches the goodness 
of God. 

In looking about me upon the fair face of nature for 
evidence of the divine goodness, I have been at a loss 
to decide where to commence. It is somewhat like 
standing under the clear firmament in the evening, and 
searching for a star that excels in brightness among 
the thousands that sparkle in the vault of heaven. In 
the midst of so many arguments which are full and 
clear to the point, ii is difficult to select those that will 
be most convincing to my auditors. I may perhaps as 
well begin with a general survey of the field before me. 

I remark then, that every evidence of design found 
in the works of God, is also an evidence of his good- 
ness, and hence the goodness of God is inseparably con- 
nected with every manifestation of his wisdom and 
power. That which will prove the one will prove the 
other also. Take an instance which shall illustrate 
this remark. I have pointed you to the solar system, 
and particularly to the earth ; its distance from the sun, 
its motion, form, light, and its adaptation to the wants 
of its inhabitants, as evidences of design and xoisdom 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



75 



on the part of the Creator. Now these are equally ex- 
plicit in their testimony to his goodness. Whatever 
of design or intelligence they exhibit, is seen engaged 
in the production of a benevolent end. If God had 
been malevolent, he would have so constructed the 
earth that it would have been the abode of misery. He 
might have made every sense of its inhabitants, and 
every circumstance of earth, calculated to inflict mis- 
ery and pain, and these circumstances and senses might 
have been so perfectly well adapted to the end, that 
design would have been apparent; still it would have 
been a had design. But in vain will you search the 
works of God for any train of contrivance which ex- 
hibits a settled design to produce an evil result. So 
entirely are these "works calculated for the production 
of happiness, that no mortal man can suggest any im- 
provements by which the amount of enjoyment would 
on the whole be increased, or the sum of misery dimin- 
ished. In every department of creation, things are to 
be found, arranged in such order as to afford clear proof 
of design; but in no case does the design appear to 
have evil for its object. I grant, that there are instan- 
ces in which apparent evil is discovered ; but I main- 
tain, that there is no case where that apparent evil is 
the ultimatum or end of the design, indicated bv the 
contrivance. In all cases it appears as an incidental 
circumstance, necessarily and unavoidably connected 
with the means employed for effecting the good ; and 
is vastly inferior in amount to the ultimate good, 
which results from these means. Take for instance, 
those provisions which God has made for watering the 
earth, with the rains that descend upon the just and 
the unjust. The rains descend and vegetation flour- 
ishes; and to the candid mind it is evident that its 



76 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



design is, to water the earth and " cause it to bud and 
bring forth, that it might give seed to the sower and 
bread to the eater." But for this provision of nature's 
God, death and famine would reign over all the earth, 
and its most fertile plains would have been long ago 
left in dreary solitude without an inhabitant. It is ob- 
vious then, that there is avast and incalculable amount 
of good resulting from the descending showers ; and 
if there is any design about the matter, it is a good de- 
sign. But it sometimes happens that the rain descends 
in torrents, and an individual exposed, may be drenched, 
and suffer sickness in consequence of his exposure. 
But he must be a very short-sighted man indeed, who 
would contend that the rain was designed particularly 
to subject him to pain. There are also cases in which 
the rain falls in such abundance that the streams are 
augmented beyond the capacity of their banks; they 
overflow, and some fields are laid waste and, perhaps, 
even human life destroyed. But who ever thought of 
regarding these as the ultimate objects contemplated 
by the Creator in the rains of heaven? Will any man 
presume to say, that God provided rain on purpose that 
there might be now and then an inundation ? I trust 
not ; for it is but moderate reason which looks upon 
these only as incidental circumstances, and exceptions 
to the general object contemplated in the design. And 
it is but simple justice which admits, " in God's be- 
half,' 1 that the good resulting from the rains is vastly 
more abundant than any thing that wears the appear- 
ance of evil. Hence every ]ink in the chain of con- 
trivance, clearly indicates that the plan was formed, 
not for any thing desirable in the incidental evil ; but 
in special reference to the ultimate good. Nor does the 
incidental eviL(if you please to call it a real evil) de- 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



11 



tract aught from the goodness of the being who formed 
the plan. Before such a principle can be admitted, it 
must be proved that there is some better plan which 
might have been adopted for the production of the same 
end. When any object is to be secured, it is goodness 
that out of a number of possible means selects the best. 
In this case, before any one presumes to complain of 
the Creator's plan, or urge any of its seeming imper- 
fections, as an argument against the divine goodness, 
it would be well for him to cast about and see if he can 
devise a better. Or if he cannot do this, to devise some 
means by which, in consistency with all the circum- 
stances of the case, he could avoid the incidental evil 
of which he complains, without producing a greater. 
When any man will propose a method for watering the 
face of the earth, which shall be better adapted to the 
purpose, and liable to fewer objections, than the one 
God has adopted, then it will be soon enough to urge 
any supposed defects, as an argument against the di- 
vine goodness. I have a mind to inquire what mode 
you would adopt, if you had the power, which should 
be in any way superior to the one God has adopted? 
To let the rains cease would be the destruction of all 
the inhabitants of the earth, and to abolish any one of 
the laws of nature, by virtue of which the vapours rise 
and the rains fall, would be productive of equally dis- 
astrous consequences. It should be recollected that 
God " acts by general, not by partial laws," and it is 
too much to expect ever of God, that he should inter- 
pose with a miracle to suspend for a while the opera- 
tion of 'useful and necessary laws in order to avoid some 
trifling inconveniences, which after all, may be turned 
to a good account. One or two considerations which 
are perfectly obvious will place this subject in its 
7* 



73 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



proper light. I will still keep the illustration already 
before you in view, though the remarks I am about to 
make are equally applicable to many others. The rain 
comes down from heaven and waters the earth, causing 
the small blade to spring up, and producing the full ear 
and the ripened corn for the garner. But the objector 
thinks that an occasional flood or other ill ought to be 
abated from the goodness of God who formed the plan. 
Now rain is produced by the simplest laws of matter. 
The vapour being raised by heat is lighter than the air, 
and of course floats in it. It is wafted over the earth 
until it condenses and from its own gravity falls to the 
surface. Thus the whole process is carried on by the 
first, and simplest laws of matter. Now it is worthy 
of remark, that it would be manifestly absurd for God 
to introduce some law into matter for the special pur- 
pose of producing rain, when there were already those 
in existence which would effect the end desired. Such 
an idea would not harmonize with that wonderful sim- 
plicity which characterizes ail the operations of his 
works. You see then, that the primitive laws of mat- 
ter, even those that regulate the motion of the earth, 
and the changing seasons, are fully adequate to the 
production of necessary rain, and while these laws are 
in force, the rains will come at their appointed seasons. 

It was not only necessary, that these laws should 
exist but it was equally necessary, that they should be 
constant in their operations. What would man be, if 
he could not confide in the steadfastness of nature's 
laws ? He would be a poor helpless worm of the dust, 
who could not feel secure for a moment. If the fire 
made him warm for once, he could have no surety, that 
it would do so again. If he planted corn and it grew, 
for once, and gave him a harvest, he would have no con- 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



79 



fidence that it would be so again ; or if the rain came 
down and watered the earth, he would have no good 
reason to hope for a recurrence of the same event. In 
fact every lesson of experience would be lost, for all 
these lessons are founded upon our steadfast confidence 
in the undeviating uniformity of the operations of God's 
work. The mariner would never venture from the 
shore, but for the full and perfect confidence, that the 
winds and the waves will continue obedient to the same 
laws to which they have yielded for ages. The hus- 
bandman would never cast his seed into the earth, but 
for his confidence that nature, true to herself, will in 
due season return him the golden harvest. Nay, more, 
we should not dare step upon the solid earth in the 
morning, were it not for our confidence, that the same 
law by which it has hitherto sustained us, is still in 
operation. You see then how indispensable it is for 
man to know, that nature walks by rules that know no 
abatement. Now we come to the point of the argu- 
ment. The ills of which you complain as incidental 
to the falling rains, proceed from this very constancy 
and uniformity in the laws of nature. Do you ask, 
why there are now and then excessive rains ? The 
answer is, because nature true to herself, has been at 
work, and what has been drawn into the atmosphere, 
by the laws of matter, during those days in which you 
delighted, must by the same laws fall to the earth. Do 
you ask why a good God does not suspend the opera- 
ation of these laws, when there is danger to be appre- 
hended? I answer: because a good God knows, that 
a suspension of these laws, in one solitary instance, 
would destroy that confidence in their stability and 
uniformity, without which man would be the prey of 
perpetual fear, and thus it would entail upon him the 



SU 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



most deadly curse that imagination itself can conceive. 
It appears then, that the evils of which you complain, 
in this instance, are rather, on the whole, imaginary than 
real, being abundantly compensated in the very circum- 
stances from which they flow. But even if it were 
allowed that the evil was real, and considerable, yet 
if the good were more abundant, the argument would 
bear strongly in favour of goodness, in that being who 
"drew the wondrous plan." No man, I presume, will 
dispute, that the blessings conferred by the descending 
showers are incalculably superior to any thing, that 
wears the appearance of evil, emenating from the same 
fountain; and hence, my position is tenable, that the 
rain from heaven indicates the divine goodness. The 
same general remarks will hold good when referred 
to the shining of the sun, the changes of the seasons, 
the alternation of day and night, and a thousand other 
instances of wise arrangement by which God promotes 
the welfare of his creatures. They all speak forth the 
same boundless and impartial goodness, that drops in 
the rain and distils in the dew. True, there may 
be apparent incidental ills connected with them, but 
these ills are not the end sought, nor do they abate 
aught from the benevolence of him who formed the 
plan. The heat of the sun is sometimes found oppres- 
sive, but it were a foolish man who would wish to an- 
nihilate the sun, on that account; and equally foolish 
w T ould that man be, who would allege this oppressive 
heat, as a reason for supposing, that the sun was made 
by a malevolent being on purpose to give him pain. 
The truth is, in all these cases, the end is good, and 
all of evil that can be discovered, is only the necessary 
accompaniment of the means. The rule is good, and 
it is the exception only, that wears the form of evil. 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



81 



If therefore, God for the best of purposes permits the 
exception to enter, it militates not against his goodness. 

But I observe again ; the goodness of God may be 
seen in the provisions which he has made for the hap- 
piness of all his sentient creatures. There is not in 
the wide earth, a race of beings, which God has brought 
into existence, without providing them with means of 
enjoyment to the full measure of their capacities. He 
has been as careful to provide suitable and appropriate 
means for the comfort of the meanest insect that crawls 
in the dust, as for the most noble animal that walks 
the earth. You know there is an innumerable multi- 
tude of animals on the earth. Some walk upon its 
surface, some creep in its bosom, some sport in its 
waters, and some soar in the air : but for them all, God 
has provided means of support and sources of enjoy- 
ment. They are all fitted to their spheres and appa- 
rently happy, and contented in the condition, in which 
God has placed them, and with the provisions which 
he has made for them. The lion is happy in the 
solitudes of the desert, and to all appearance as well 
pleased with Ins condition as the lamb, that sports 
upon the flowery lawn. In the cheerless and forbidding 
desert, he finds the means of gratifying his ruling pro- 
pensities, and is pleased to dwell where none will 
dispute with him the title of "monarch of the wood. 5: 
So I might go on, and descending downward through 
all, that " stately tread or lowly creep," I should find, 
that God has given to one and to all the means of a 
happy existence. Reflect for one moment upon the 
vast and untold multitude of animals, there are now 
upon the earth. And how many are there who are not 
at this instant in a state of enjoyment ? There are no 
doubt individual cases of suffering, but compared with 



82 



DIVINE EENEVOLENCE. 



the vast whole these are but as spots upon the fair disk 
of the sun. Think of the countless myriads, who are 
now happy to their hearts' content, and what an amount 
of enjoyment must be borne upon the wings of every 
fleeting moment as it passes ! The air and the earth 
and the sea are full of life, and yet such is the tender 
care of the great Creator, that all are happy in their 
appropriate spheres. No man can lay his finger upon a 
race of animals, and say with any show of propriety, 
that their existence has been a curse. Nay, I go still 
further, and even hazard the assertion that you cannot 
find an individual, of any species, of whom it may not 
be said, in truth, at the close of its life, "the joy has 
triumphed over the pain. 5 ' What do these things 
prove ? They prove, that the Author of all life is good. 
They lay open a rule of his divine government, to 
which there are no exceptions, and proclaim in most 
emphatic tones, that when God puts forth the energies 
of his power, to confer life, it is in all cases, for the 
benevolent purpose of swelling the amount of happi- 
ness and joy. Look at this matter in another light. 
It would have been just as easy for God to frame his 
creatures in such a manner that they would all be mis- 
erable, as it was to make them as they are. He might 
have made them so, that they should drag out a miser- 
able existence of the keenest torture, with no ray of 
light to shine upon the darkness of their wo ; and the 
work would have been as easy of performance as that 
which he has already done. In such a case no man 
would hesitate for a moment to say, that he was cruel. 
Why then, I ask, should any man now hesitate to say 
that he is good ? 

There is another circumstance connected with the 
animal economy of nature, that ought not to be passed 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



83 



over, or forgotten. I refer to the fact, that God has 
added to all animals sources of pleasure, over and 
above, what was necessary for the purpose of prolong- 
ing life. As a case in point : if he had merely provided 
food for animals, it would have been sufficient for the 
support of life. But God has done more than this. 
He has not only given food and an appetite for food, 
but he has so provided, that the act of eating affords 
pleasure. The same may be said of all the appetites. 
They were doubtless necessary for the purpose of lead- 
ing to a participation of those aliments, which are 
needful to support life; but it was not absolutely ne- 
cessary, that their gratification should afford pleasure. 
It was necessary that animals should see ; but it was 
not indispensible that the sight should afford a source 
of enjoyment. It would have been just as easy to con- 
nect misery with sight as to link it with happiness 
We must therefore, regard the enjoyment which flows 
through this medium, as something that the Creator 
has superadded to what was strictly necessary. But 
the limits of a discourse will not allow me to pursue 
the pleasing subject further. Go, faithless mortal, go, 
look at the works of God. Go, stand were nature in 
its beauty lies before you. Go, mark the sportive 
lamb, that gambols on the green pasture of spring, 
and note the swift-winged eagle who proudly soars 
above the cloud. Behold the sportings of the fish, in 
the liquid element, and listen to the warbling music 
of the grove. Go, view these works and ways of God, 
and then say if thou canst, that there is not goodness 
in the being from whose hand they came. 6ro, mark 
well these wonders of creating and preserving love, and 
tell me if thou art able, that the " earth is not full of 
the goodness of the Lord." I am to show 



84 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



II. That the lessons of experience gathered from the 
dealings of God's providences with as, teach the doc- 
trine of the divine goodness. 

The experience of man in all ages, and in all climes 
and conditions of life, bears a strong and explicit testi- 
mony in favour of goodness in that God who controls 
the destinies of individuals and nations. If we take 
our own individual experience as a standard, we shall 
find in it, the abundant manifestations of the divine 
favour. Who is there among you, that will dare ar- 
raign the goodness of God and say, that his own life 
hitherto has been a curse rather than a blessing % I 
am persuaded, that there is no such individual to be 
found. If I were to pass through this congregation and 
ask of each and every individual whether he had not 
experienced much of happiness, and comparatively 
little of misery 1 you would with united voices answer 
in the affirmative. You may have passed through 
seasons of suffering, and possibly upon some of you, the 
storm of affliction may have beat with fury. But the 
cloud has passed away, and joy has soon, very soon 
visited you again. I ask you now to take a candid and 
impartial view of your past lives, and cast up the ac- 
count. On the one side place your seasons of suffering 
and misery, and on the other, your days of rejoicing 
and bliss ; and then see how the account will stand. 

At one time, disease laid its hand upon you, and 
you languished for a month upon a bed of pain. At 
another, cruel death came, and took from your fond 
embrace some dear companion of your pilgrimage on 
earth, and left you to weep over the sundered ties of 
friendship. Your tears flowed freely, and you refused 
to be comforted, for it was hard to part with that object 
of your soul's best affection. At another time, you re- 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 85 

member how misfortune came, and stripped you of 
your earthly goods, and left you in poverty ; perhaps 
in want. Ah ! says one, this is a miserable world, and 
in it, I have suffered much, and more, much more, I 
fear, awaits me. Dear man ! you have yet looked at 
but one side of the account. You have been particular 
to charge your Maker with every privation and sorrow, 
but have you been equally particular to give him credit 
for all those joys and blessings, that you have received 
from his bountiful hand ? You have charged to his 
account that painful disease he sent, but have you re- 
membered to give him credit for those friends, that 
watched over you in your weakness. Have you re- 
membered that mother, who hung with more than 
mortal love around your languishing frame — who sooth- 
ed your feverish brow with her own soft hand, and 
lent a listening ear to all your cries ? Have you for- 
gotten the comforts that were given through the kind- 
ness of those friends, who slept not nor slumbered, 
while there was aught that could relieve your pain, or 
pluck a thorn from the bed of sickness % Your Father 
took from you a child or a friend, and you have charged 
him with the sorrow. But have you given him credit 
for those joys, that were yours, through a long period, 
that the loved one was with you? You complain of 
the depths of your grief, in parting with a companion : 
but have you forgotten those gleamings of hope, that 
dawned upon the night of your sorrow, like the bea- 
con's flame upon the troubled waters, whispering that 
there is a haven above, where you will one day meet 
in the freshness of immortality and the strength of 
unfading love ? You complain, that your earthly goods 
were taken away. But pause, I beseech you, and re- 
flect upon the blessings for which you are still his debtor. 
8 



66 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



Whose earth is that upon which you tread, and which 
lays her treasures daily and hourly at your feet inviting 
you to partake and he happy? Whose sun is that, 
which pours its splendours upon your noonday walks, 
and warms and invigorates your active limbs ? Whose 
showers are these, that fall and water the earth, that 
its fruits may grow and fill the garner with food for 
your support? Whose waters are these, that gush 
from the bubbling fountain to quench your thirst? and 
whose air is that, which moves your heaving lungs and 
thus preserves your life ? These all came down from 
the Father of lights, and the giver of every good and 
every perfect gift : and must these i; lie forgotten inun- 
thankfulness,"' while all our little woes are treasured 
up in memory, and conned by note ? The fact is, we 
remember our sorrows, but are prone to forget our joys. 
We can recount every little period of suffering, but 
who can number the hours and days that he has been 
happy ? An excellent writer has truly observed, that 
we remember our misery and forget our happiness, for 
the same reason, that we recollect a violent storm, and 
forget a thousand pleasant days. The one is common, 
the other uncommon. 

But we may take a wider range of experience than 
this. What is true of you, is also true of your fellows. 
The preponderance in the scale is vastly upon the side 
of happiness. How uncommon a circumstance in the 
midst of multitudes, that pass our streets to see one 
weeping for misery. If you should meet with such an 
instance, when you retire from this house, you would be 
likely to relate the circumstance when you arrived at 
your home. If you should pass a hundred, who were 
all smiling and apparently happy, it would probably be 
unnoticed or forgotten. But why so ? Ah I it is be- 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



:R7 



cause one is a common, but the other an extraordinary 
occurrence. Now you may pass over the face of the 
earth and survey every tribe and nation of human 
beings. You may visit the palaces of the rich and the 
cottages of the poor. You may go into the dungeons 
of the prisoner and the hovels of poverty. You may 
even descend into the mines, and caves, where degraded 
humanity, in its lowest estate, finds a shelter from the 
storm; and when you have done, truth will compel 
you to say, that for every tear, you have seen a thou- 
sand smiles, and for every sigh of misery, ten thousand 
demonstrations of pleasure. Sorrows no doubt there 
are, but compared with the amount of joys, they are 
but the drop of a bucket. I am aware that human life 
is diversified, but the goodness of God is seen in the 
fact, that in every form and grade of human society, there 
is much of happiness. The pale Laplander is happy, 
when with his reindeer and his sledge, he drives over 
mountains of eternal snow, and there is no doubt that 
he enjoys as much in contemplating the fleetness of 
his deer, as does the prince in view of his gilded coach 
and more noble steeds. The sable African dances to 
the music of a reed, under the shade of a spreading 
palm, and he does it with as light a heart, as his more 
polished neighbour, "threads the merry dance," in the 
furnished and illuminated hall. The victor in the 
sports upon the country green, derives as much real 
pleasure from his triumph over his compeers, yea, and 
rejoices with a purer joy, than did Napoleon over the 
most splendid victory his armies ever won. The same 
remarks are true in their application to those inequal- 
ities, that grow out of knowledge and rank and fortune. 
These are various, but you will find upon examination, 
that happiness, the great end and aim of life is more 



38 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



equally distributed among mankind, than we are apt, 
at first to imagine. I grant you, that the king may be 
happy, in the contemplation of his dignity and power, 
but let it not be forgotten, that he does, and he must 
often sigh for the quietude and joy, that dwells in the 
cot of the humble peasant. I grant, that the rich may 
be happy in the profusion of earthly goods, that is scat- 
tered around them, but I tell you, it not unfrequently 
happens, that the poor beggar who sits at the gate, and 
craves the crumbs that fall from the rich man 5 s table, 
is the happier of the two. The Christian may enter 
the temple of worship and he may be happy in con- 
templating the glories of the gospel of peace ; but he 
errs, if he allows himself to suppose, for one moment, 
that the good God of heaven has lavished all his boun- 
ties or exhausted his stores of mercy upon him alone* 
The unlettered song of praise, which comes up before 
the good Spirit from the naked child of the forest, 
proclaims that the healing waters of peace and joy 
have visited even the lone wigwam of the 

" Poor Indian whose untutored mind 

Sees God in clouds, and hears him in the wind." 

He worships the great spirit, and perhaps with as much 
true devotion, hopes for an humble heaven where 

"No fiends torment, no Christians thirst for gold; 
And thinks admitted to that equal sky. 
His faithful dog shall bear him company." 

With this he is satisfied upon that head. His pleas- 
ures are mostly physical, and he looks to the chase for 
his greatest joy. The measure of his intellectual ca- 
pacity for enjoyment is small, but God has filled it to 
the very brim. 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



H9 



But you may extend, your observations still farther. 
You may remember that the earth has rolled upon its 
axis for near six thousand years, and during all that 
time generation rapidly succeeded generation, and the 
world lias been peopled more than twice ten thousand 
times, and yet in all this multitude of beings there 
could not be found an individual who has not enjoyed 
much, even more than he has suffered. For one and 
for all, the good Father has provided sources of enjoy- 
ment and fountains of comfort. Oh! hov/ does the 
divine goodness shine forth in its glory upon the pages 
of human experience ! You have before you the con- 
centrated experience of six thousand years, and of more 
human beings than there are sands upon the shore of 
the sea, and powerfully and emphatically does the whole 
of it repeat the language of my text — " The earth is 
full of the goodness of the Lord." 

To these views of God's goodness it is sometimes 
objected, that there is much of suffering and sorrow on 
earth ; that every sweet has its bitter, and every rose a 
thorn, so that there is little of happiness, that is not 
mingled with pain. If there is sunshine there are also 
storms, and nature and experience give but little testi- 
mony of unmingled goodness in the God of all. I have 
already occupied the time usually allotted to a dis- 
course, and cannot therefore dwell upon this objection 
at present. In my next lecture, which will be upon the 
moral government of God, I propose to enter somewhat 
critically into an examination of this matter. I there- 
fore dismiss it for the present, with a remark already 
made, that the evil of which men complain, is in no 
nameable case the evident product of design. That is, 
it is not produced for its own sake, but is the incidental 
production of means wisely adapted to some good and 
8* 



90 



DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. 



benevolent end ; and it is in all cases richly compen- 
sated in the ultimate good. This consideration alone 
is a full answer to every objection against the divine 
goodness, drawn from the existence of real or supposed 
ill. But of this matter you shall hear more at another 
time. 

I have endeavoured to prove that God is good, by an 
appeal to nature and experience. This is one of the 
fundamental articles of the Christian faith. If I have 
adduced any evidence of its truth, place it to the credit 
of Christianity. If I have proved it true, then have I 
also proved that another of the foundation stones in the 
temple of Christ is laid where it cannot be moved. I 
present you with the simple fact that God is good, sus-. 
tained by nature and experience. I point you to the 
Bible, which declares that he is good, and have a right 
to ask your assent to so much of its teachings, as sub- 
stantial truth. You may call the Bible what you will, 
but so long as there is a sun in the firmament, or an 
ungrateful child of Adam who feeds upon God's bounty, 
on the face of the earth, so long will this truth remain. 
The ruthless hand of infidelity would no doubt, blot 
the Bible from existence, but there is one thing it can- 
not do. It cannot quench the fires of the sun, nor erase 
those everlasting lines which God has Written upon the 
face of nature. There the truth shines in its glory, 
and there mortals may read what they will not read in 
the Bible — " The earth is full of the goodness of 
the Lord." " Praise him ! ye heavens, and ye waters 
that are above the heavens ! Oh ! speak good of his 
name, for he is good, and his mercy endureth for ever." 



DISCOURSE VI. 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 

The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice ; let the multitude of isles be 
glad. Psalms xcvil 1. 

In my last discourse I gave you to understand that 
the labour of this evening would be devoted to the doc- 
trine of God's universal government. I have passed 
in review some of the evidences of the existence, 
power, wisdom and goodness of God. My object has 
been to prove, that there is a God possessed of these 
attributes ; and I now advance one step further, and 
undertake to show, that this God reigns supreme over 
all the earth. He reigns not only in the material uni- 
verse, but over the world of mind, and has established 
a moral government in the earth, which is administered 
upon those principles of goodness and wisdom and 
justice, that may well call forth joy and rejoicing from 
those who are its subjects. These positions are em- 
braced in the text, and they are most explicitly taught 
throughout the Bible. My object is to show that this 
doctrine of Scripture has its foundation in truth. 

That God reigns in the physical universe, is a posi- 
tion which I do not recollect to have seen or heard dis- 
puted by any one who admits his existence. It would 
be the highest degree of absurdity, to suppose that an 
intelligent God would employ his power and wisdom 
in creating a universe, and after he had made it, leave 



92 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD, 



it without his care or any laws for its government. And 
here let me observe, that the idea of God's government 
in the material universe does not necessarily suppose 
that he interposes with a special agency or providence 
in every phenomena of nature. When I say that God 
reigns in the material universe, I mean that when he 
created the world, he gave it laws by which it should 
be governed ; these laws are in force j all nature is 
subjected to them ; and no power or circumstance can 
Wrest one particle of matter from their control. They 
are laws that came from the great Creator. It is his 
constant agency that keeps them continually in force, 
and the vast universe acknowledges their supremacy. 
In this manner God reigns. That such laws do in fact 
exist, and that the sun and moon and stars bow with 
meek submission to their authority, and that even the 
small dust of the balance is under their control, no rea- 
sonable man ever yet denied. The subject of the ori- 
gin of these laws, whether they exist in matter and 
have existed there from all eternity, independent of a 
Creator, I have already considered. I need not retrace 
my steps to go over that ground again. Besides, it is 
not with the atheist I have now to do, but with the 
deist who admits the existence of a God. With the 
atheist I have nearly done, for when a man's head gets 
so completely turned that he will deny the God that 
made him, he is " wise in his own conceit," and I am 
of Solomon's opinion, that " there is more hope of a 
fool than that man." There are laws in existence by 
which the material universe is governed, and I think I 
have shown that in this case as in all others where 
there are laws, there is a legislator, and this legislator 
is God. I will not therefore spend more time in prov- 
ing that the material universe is subject to certain laws 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



93 



given it by the Creator, and hence, that God reigns 
among these worlds and sys-tems of worlds, which 
people the immensity of space around us. I set it down 
as a truth which cannot be controverted, that physical 
nature is under the control and government of its God 
and yields obedience to the laws he gave it at first. 

But whether God reigns also in the mental and moral 
universe, or has established a moral government in the 
world, is a question upon which men take more liberty 
to doubt. There are those who admit that God rules 
the planets in their course, that he governs the earth 
in all her movements, and yet they feel disposed to 
deny that he exercises any government over the moral 
intelligences whom he has created and placed upon its 
surface. But why should one of these be doubted more 
than the other ? Why should the same God who cre- 
ated the material universe and gave nature her laws, 
and who is careful to preserve order and harmony in 
all the works of his hands — why should this same God 
leave the world of intelligent and moral beings to run 
at random? Why should it be thought that a being 
whom all nature declares to be a God of order, has 
left the moral universe a scene of wild uproar and con- 
fusion with no laws for its government. I confess that 
the very fact of God's government in the world of mat- 
ter is with me strong presumptive evidence, that he 
also reigns over the intelligent moral beings of his 
creation. Reasoning from the evidences of God's gov- 
ernment in the material universe, the presumption, a 
priori, is, that he reigns in the universe of mind as he 
does in matter. That excellent philosopher Dugald 
Stewart, has a passage so pertinent to this subject, that 
I beg leave to introduce it to your attention. He says, 
% The numberless references and dependancies between 



94 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



the material and moral worlds exhibited within the 
narrow sphere of our observation on this globe, en- 
courage and even authorize us to conclude that they 
both form parts of one and the same plan — a conclusion 
congenial with the best and noblest principles of human 
nature, and which all the discoveries of genuine sci- 
ence unite in confirming. * * The presumption un- 
questionably is, that there is one great moral system 
corresponding to the material system, and that the 
connexions which we at present trace so distinctly 
among the sensible objects composing the one, are ex- 
hibited as so many intimations of some vast scheme 
comprehending all the intelligent beings composing the 
other." (See Stewart's works, part 2, chap. 2, sec. 4.) 
But we need not rest the argument upon any process 
of reasoning, apriori, however sound or logical. There 
are facts which have a direct bearing upon this subject. 
It is a fact that there are clearly defined and settled 
principles of mind, by which it is governed in all 
nations, and has been governed in all ages. There is 
no law of matter more clearly exhibited than are many 
of these laws of the human mind. It is also true that 
man is possessed of a moral nature susceptible of moral 
impressions, and that there are also laws by which this 
moral nature is governed. There lives not a man who 
has not some sort of moral sense, and however de- 
graded he may be, he yields to the control of this sense 
in his conduct. These general facts are of themselves 
fully sufficient to establish the point, that there is a 
moral governor who controls the acts of men, and 
whose laws are known and obeyed in the empire of 
mind. I ought perhaps to be more explicit here. I 
aver then, that there is no intelligent rational being in 
existence, who has not some moral sense. Every man 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



95 



has some ideas of right and wrong. When he does 
that which he deems right, his moral sense approves 
what he has done ; but when the reverse of this is the 
fact, this same moral sense chastens him. This is a 
law of man's moral nature, and he feels the power of 
that law in all his acts of life. Now I maintain that 
the very existence of such a law is proof that there is a 
lawgiver, a moral governor, whose laws are extended 
over the moral universe, and hence the position is sus- 
tained by facts, that God has established his govern- 
ment in the earth. 

I apprehend however, that the chief objection to the 
government of God, originates in the fact that there is 
much of apparent confusion in the moral world. We 
look at the material universe and we see the most plain 
and positive evidences that there are laws by which it 
is governed. The sun rises and sets, the earth pursues 
its course, the seasons change, and the planets move on 
in undisturbed harmony in their accustomed orbits. In 
every department of the material universe there is order 
and harmony. But the objector contends that in the 
moral world things wear a different aspect. Here all 
is apparent confusion. This man believes and prac- 
tises one thing, and that another. In one place it is 
lawful to rob, steal, plunder and murder, and in another 
these things are punished as an offence against the 
laws of God and man. Now, continues the objector, I 
cannot believe that all these things are under the direc- 
tion of a great moral governor, for if they were there 
would be more of order and less of confusion. 

To this argument, however specious it may appear, 
it may be justly replied, that it is to all intents and 
purposes, a begging of the question. The whole force 
of the argument centres in the position that the moral 



96 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



universe is a scene of chaotic confusion, without laws 
for its government, which is the very thing to be proved, 
and I have no idea of allowing an antagonist to assume 
the whole ground in debate in order to obtain a footing 
whereon to stand. Because the moral world is with- 
out government and in a state of confusion, therefore, 
it is without government, and consequently without a 
governor. Is this the argument ? I know that there 
is an attempt at proof, of the position that confusion 
reigns in the moral world. But I must be allowed to 
question the validity of the proof. We are told indeed 
that men think differently, and that what is right in one 
place is wrong in another ; but I have yet to learn that 
every thing must necessarily be set down as misrule 
and disorder, which man fails to arrange according to 
his notions of order and harmony. The allusion to the 
apparent order of physical nature appears ill-judged 
and unfortunate in this case. I have never yet been 
satisfied, that there is more disorder and confusion in 
the moral than in the physical universe \ and I am 
thoroughly convinced that the only reason why men 
judge to the contrary is, that they are not so well ac- 
quainted with the one as they are with the other. The 
philosophy of matter has outstripped the philosophy of 
mind. Man has been able to take a somewhat com- 
prehensive view of the great field of outward nature, 
and to trace out the laws by which its operations are 
governed. Thus in many, very many instances, he has 
been able to discover harmony where confusion alone 
was supposed to exist. If you go back to the days that 
preceded the bright career of a Newton, you will find, 
that there was as much darkness in relation to the phe- 
nomena of nature around us, as there now is, or ever 
was, in reference to the phenomena of the moral world. 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



97 



Philosophers were as much bewildered in their search 
for the laws of nature, and they thought they saw as 
much turmoil and confusion in the material works of 
God, as the most obstinate opposer of God's moral gov- 
ernment now professes to see in the moral aspect of the 
universe. But since that time, philosophy has taught 
us that nature has her laws, which came from nature's 
God, and must be obeyed. We have learned that re- 
sults apparently contradictory, are the effects of the 
same law. We now see the self-same law at work in 
the rising vapour as in the fall of a stone. We have 
learned that the same law which forms a drop of water 
and causes it to fall to the earth, also gives to the earth 
its consistency, and guides its course through the track- 
less immensity of space. Thus,muchof the confusion 
and darkness that for ages reigned over the phenomena 
of creation has been removed. I know not that any 
man of science now doubts that every remaining ap- 
pearance of confusion in these works is owing to the 
ignorance of man, and not to any defect in their laws. 
There are yet remaining things that philosophy never 
has explained ; but reasoning from the known to the 
unknown, the judicious philosopher concludes, that 
these also are the regular and orderly results of laws 
that have hitherto eluded his utmost vigilance ; and all 
remaining appearances of irregularity, to the contrary 
notwithstanding, he confesses the footsteps of a God 
in all the works, and his government in all the opera- 
tions of nature. I have said that there are remaining 
appearances of irregularity and confusion in the mate- 
rial universe. There are many of these. Go and watch 
the blazing meteor as with incredible velocity it shoots 
across the heavens, or falls to the earth. Mark the 
magnetic needle which guides the mariner across the 
9 



98 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



mighty waters, and gaze upon those northern lights that 
seem to threaten earth wiih conflagration, and ask for 
the laws of nature that produce these wonders ? Phi- 
losophy is mute, and confesses that here theory must 
be substituted for fact and hypothesis for truth. Go 
and mark the rushing whirl of the tempest, when the 
noise and din of contending elements, the commingling 
crash of the whirlwind and the thunder and storm strike 
the stout heart with terror, and threaten destruction to 
the fairest portions of earth. Do you see any thing like 
order and harmony there ? Nay, it is to us, " confu- 
sion worse confounded." But who now points to these 
as evidence that the world of matter is a scene of wild 
tumult and confusion, without law or government ? 
No man with even a smattering of philosophy pursues 
such a course. The judicious mind reasons thus: It 
is true, I see nothing in the riotous uproar of the storm 
that looks like order and harmony. But from what I 
know of nature, I am satisfied that all this is but the 
result of well-established laws, and though I cannot in 
this instance trace their precise operation, yet I have 
not the remotest idea that there is one lawless particle 
of matter in that driving tempest. I see the " aurora 
borealis" and many other things which to me are in- 
explicable \ but reasoning from the known to the un- 
known, I must conclude that these also are the regular 
and orderly effects of laws, which though they have 
eluded the vigilance of my feeble powers, are not the 
less certain or sure. I have seen the darkness that 
brooded over many of the phenomena of nature, vanish 
before the light of truth, and the footsteps of a ruling 
and governing God revealed, where chaos and confu- 
sion had for ages been supposed to reign, and it is rash 
presumption in me to pronounce aught that remains 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



99 



unexplained, an evidence of anarchy in the works of 
God. This is the mode of reasoning adopted in refer- 
ence to the material universe. Why will not men rea- 
son thus in regard to the moral world ? It is a mode 
of argument that accords with the soundest principles 
of philosophical investigation, and though its adoption 
in this case might have an unfavourable influence upon 
some sceptical theories, yet I am persuaded that truth 
would be advanced by its decisions. At all events, a 
just comparison of what yet remains unexplained in the 
material and moral worlds, should teach us to be mod- 
est in asserting that one is orderly and the other filled 
with confusion. 

From the considerations above named, you will per- 
ceive that it is not altogether certain that what we call 
confusion, is in fact a war of discordant elements with- 
out law; and hence the objection to the divine govern- 
ment, founded upon these apparent irregularities in the 
moral world, rests upon an unsubstantial basis. Every 
discovery of science, and every just principle of philo- 
sophical investigation, whether drawn from physical 
nature or the philosophy of mind, urges upon us the 
conclusion, that there are moral as well as physical 
laws, and that all of apparent confusion results from 
the operation of these laws in a manner which man's 
blindness has not hitherto allowed him to detect. I 
need not here repeat the remark, that if man's mental 
and moral constitution has its laws, then there must be 
a lawgiver and governor. Nor will any one presume 
to object that this is resting the proof of God's moral 
government upon a mere probable conjecture at best, 
for it is the same kind of proof with which the most 
sceptical philosopher is satisfied, when it is applied to 
the physical universe. No man can trace out the laws 



0 



100 GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 

of matter which produce the " northern lights." nor can 
any man see aught of regularity in a tempest, and yet 
no man doubts the fact of their being the result of well- 
established laws, nor does any man think of pointing to 
these unexplained phenomena of nature as triumphant 
proof that it is without law or government. So. no 
reasonable man ought to regard like circumstances in 
the moral world as evidence that its vast domain is 
without a governor. I might even push the argument 
further, and from the fact that the minutest particle of 
matter is as much subject to the laws of nature, as the 
earth itself, by the strictest parity of reasoning, it would 
appear that the smallest item in the moral universe is 
as strictly subjected to the moral laws of God, as those 
mighty movements of mind, that shake thrones and 
empires. But I pass this. The whole subject is em- 
braced in this. There are certain fixed laws of mind, 
and clearly-defined principles of man's moral nature, 
the existence of which no man dare dispute ; but some 
feel disposed to dispute the existence of a lawgiver and 
governor, because they have not been able to trace the 
operation of these laws in certain phenomena of the 
moral world. I have shown that this is a process of 
reasoning which these very men have repudiated, and 
which has been long since exploded by all philosophers. 
I only ask you to reason upon the same principles in 
regard to God's moral government, that you adopt in 
your investigations of physical nature, and you will 
come to the conclusion in the one that you have long 
since drawn in the other, that 

" All nature is but art unknown to thee, 

All chance, direction which thou canst not see, 

All discord, harmony, not understood, 

All partial evil, universal good" 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD, 



101 



There is another view of the divine government 
Which is worthy of a passing notice. There are those 
who are willing to allow, that God controls those mighty 
events that occur among nations : hut when we come 
to the Scripture doctrine, that he takes cognizance of 
every secret thought, and that even the hairs of our 
heads are all numbered, they hesitate and doubt. But 
one of these doctrines is just as true as the other, and 
every argument that can be adduced in favour of one 
will bear with equal force in favour of the other. In 
fact, one cannot be true without the other. A na- 
tion is but a collection of individuals, and hence it is 
manifestly impossible that any being can rule a nation, 
without controlling at the same time the individuals of 
which that nation is composed. It would indeed be a 
curious idea for any man to advance, that God rules 
and governs the solar system, and yet he has no par- 
ticular concern with the planets. A child can see that 
it is those planets which compose the system, and 
hence, that it is utterly impossible for God to rule the 

fcystem without controling the individual planets of 
which it is composed. So in this case : if it be allowed 

Uhat God reigns among the nations, it must also be al- 
lowed that he controls the individuals which compose 
the nations. When it is reflected that the fate of na- 
tions has been decided by the sting of an insect or the 
noise of a fowl, it will appear as necessary that God 
should control the beggar as the king. In fact, the 
same arguments that will prove the one will prove the oth- 
er also. No man can advance an argument to prove that 
God ruled the mighty movements of a Napoleon, which 
shook all Europe to its centre, which will not also as 
clearly prove that he ruled the softest step of the hum- 
blest soldier in his camp. But I pass on to a yet more 
9* 



102 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



important view of the doctrine of the divine govern- 
ment. 

I said I would attempt to show that the fact of God's 
universal government affords a matter of joy and re- 
joicing to those who are its subjects. 

Let any man reflect upon the condition of the world 
without mental or moral laws and he will soon be satis- 
fied that there is propriety in the language of our text, 
which calls on the earth and the islands of the sea to 
rejoice because the Lord reigneth. Suppose God had 
left the human mind without any fixed laws for its gov- 
ernment. What a scene of uncertainty, uproar, confu- 
sion and misery, would this world exhibit ! The very 
foundations of all society would be broken up in a mo- 
ment. How could a man calculate upon the faithful- 
ness of friends, or the love of kindred ? How could a 
man decide on any course to promote even his own 
happiness? The very thing which made him happy- 
yesterday might make him miserable to-day ; and he 
could not have the least possible reason for believing 
that the friends who have loved him hitherto would 
continue their love. It is our knowledge of the es- 
tablished laws of the human mind, and that alone, 
which enables us to shape our course through the jour- 
ney of life with any tolerable hope of securing the prize 
of happiness. Go to a lunatic asylum, to a very bedlam, 
where maniacs are congregated, and where the ravings 
and incoherent mutterings of distraction greet your 
senses. Why are these not as other men ? The an- 
swer is, that there the known laws of mind are per- 
verted. There its elements are at war, and its healthful 
laws disturbed in their operation. And there, in that 
Babel of misery, you may see a picture of what the 
earth would be without those laws of mind that came 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



103 



from the Creator. Suppose again, that man was made 
without amoral nature, or if you please, that he has no 
moral sense. You see that all moral character of ac- 
tions is destroyed at once. Man would as soon do one 
thing as another. All the enjoyments flowing from 
conscious virtue are gone, and one would as soon de- 
stroy his friend as his enemy. Every barrier against 
rapine, bloodshed and murder, and the full license of 
unbridled lust, is broken down, and earth would be but 
a scene of wretchedness. Look at the subject in this 
light, and you will not fail to discover that it is indeed 
matter of joy that God has given to man a moral law 
which guards the temple of virtue, and raises a barrier 
against the floods of iniquity. And here let me remark, 
that the moral laws of the Bible have an existence more 
enduring than ink and paper, or even tables of stone 
can give them. They are but a transcript, or if you 
please, a revelation of those immutable laws which the 
finger of God has written upon man's moral nature. 
They point to one path and command us to walk therein. 
Why ? Because God has so made our moral consti- 
tutions, that there, and there only, we can be happy. 
They point to another path and forbid us to enter 
thereon. Why ? Because in so doing we shall do 
violence to the laws of our moral nature, and misery 
will be the consequence. Here then you see there is 
reason to rejoice in the knowledge of God's government. 

But I must pass to another view of the subject. I 
am not insensible of the fact, that I have here to en- 
counter one of the most formidable objections ever 
urged against the government of God. I allude to the 
existence of evil. I have endeavoured to prove that 
God reigns alike in the material and moral worlds, and 
that those appearances of irregularity and confusion 



104 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



which are discovered in one and the other, can be more 
properly placed to the account of man's ignorance, than 
any defect in the works of God. I have also remarked, 
that the government of God is characterized with good- 
ness, which should make it a source of joy and rejoi- 
cing. Against these positions it is urged, that there is 
much evil in the world, both physical and moral. Earth- 
quakes swallow up cities, famines and pestilences sweep 
away their thousands and tens of thousands, sickness 
preys upon our bodies, and remorse and sorrow upon 
our souls. Wars and fightings abound, crime and re- 
bellion are frequent, pride, revenge and cruelty, walk 
unmasked in the light of noonday, and poverty and affiic- 
tion with a train of ills are the constant companions of 
thousands. I cannot believe says one, that a good God 
would allow so many evils. If there was an infinitely 
good and powerful being at the head of government to 
control all things, he would not permit so much misery. 
I therefore conclude that there is no such God, or if 
there is, that he has no concern in the government of 
the world. 

It is much easier to find fault with the plans of 
another, than to frame a better plan of ourselves. It 
is an easy thing to complain of evils, but to devise 
means for their correction is another and more difficult 
task. I wish to treat this subject with all possible 
fairness and candour. I trust I am not so blinded with 
prejudice, nor so enslaved with bigotry, that I cannot 
see or will not confess the force of an objection. I 
grant you with all readiness of mind, that there is much 
plausibility, and not a little apparent force in this rea- 
soning against the divine government. I admit, and 
candour compels me to admit, that the existence of the 
numerous ills of life, affords the strongest objection. 



I 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 105 

that has ever been presented to my mind against the 
I idea, that a wise and good God controls and governs 
all things. But that even this furnishes a sound and 
valid argument sufficient to set aside the many positive 
testimonies of God's universal dominion, I am not pre- 
! pared to grant. I know of no system of philosophy or 
religion to which objections may not be urged. The 
part of wisdom is to weigh evidence in a balance and 
choose that which is best sustained. In this case, there 
are but two possibles. Either there is a God who 
governs all things or there is not. I concede, that the 
existence of evil is an objection to the doctrine of his 
being and government, but I warn you not to make up 
a decision upon exparte evidence alone. I desire you 
to hear both sides of the question, and then candidly 
weigh the probabilities of the case. I think I have 
sufficiently shown, that there is a vast preponderance 
of order over confusion, and of good over evil, not only 
in the material, but also in the moral universe. I grant 
you, if you please, that every evidence of disorder and 
confusion is an objection to government and laws being 
in force, but I desire you also to concede, that every 
appearance of order and regularity, is also an evidence 
in favour of government and law. There are storms 
and earthquakes and famine and pestilences ! True, 
but there is also sunshine, and solid earth, and plenty and 
health, and the preponderance is vastly in favour of the 
latter. If one is an evidence of anarchy, the other is an 
evidence of government, and there are at least ten argu- 
ments of the same nature, in favour of the one, where 
there is one in favour of the other. If you lay the ob- 
jection against the goodness of the divine governor, 
the same result will follow. That there is a va3t pre- 
ponderance of good over evil, of happiness over misery, 



106 



GOVERNMENT OP GOD. 



I have before shown, and hence the weight of evidence 
must always be in favour of goodness in the being who 
reigns over all. Happiness is the rule, misery is only 
the exception, and it were as unphilosophical as it is 
illogical to allow an objection drawn from the excep- 
tion^ to set aside the positive proof contained in the 
rule. You will see then that my concession of your 
objection, can make but one point in disproving the 
divine government, while I am at least ten in advance, 
in the positive proof of that doctrine. 

Thus much I have said upon the supposition that 
the objection is valid and unanswerable, for I wished 
to give it its full force. But I now remark, that there 
are circumstances to be taken into the account, which 
are calculated to abate much from the force and co- 
gency of the argument. It is not altogether certain, 
that what we call irregularity and confusion and evil, 
* is so in reality. We ought never to forget, that the 
sphere of our vision is exceedingly limited, and, that 
we must comprehend the whole plan of the universe 
before we can positively pronounce this or that to be 
an evil. The fly, who can see no more than an inch, 
is a very unsuitable judge of architecture, and we should 
pronounce it rash presumption in that insect when 
crawling upon a temple, to " tax the structure cf the 
whole," cr deny the wisdom and goodness of the builder, 
because there were some things, that did not exactly 
meet his views of order, in the purview of his feeble 
vision. Thus presumptious is that man, who sees but 
a small section of creation, and taxes the wisdom or 
goodness of God, because he sees something, that to 
him, wears the form of evil. For aught you know, or 
can know that apparent evil of which you complain, is 
just as necessary in the great plan, and designed for as 



GOVERNMENT OP GOD. 



107 



wise and good ends as any thing that you call good. " 
I do not say I can positively prove this to be the fact, 
neither is it necessary that I should, for I rest not the 
proof of the divine government and goodness upon 
these doubtful circumstances. It belongs to the man 
who alleges these as objections to the divine govern- 
ment to prove that they are what he calls them, and 
what his whole argument supposes them to be, real, 
positive evils. Until this is done, there is so much, that 
must be abated from the force of the objection. I said 
I could not positively prove, that these apparent evils 
are necessary and good in point of fact ; but I am bound 
to say, that all the discoveries of true philosophy 
whether natural or moral tend to confirm this principle. 
In the material universe there are many things, which 
for ages were thought to be mere chaos or anarchy, 
which are now seen to be the result of good and whole- 
some laws, and it is not now counted credulity in the 
natural philosopher to believe, that all remaining ap- 
pearances of confusion, even the changes of the weather 
and the violence of the storm, are governed by well- 
established laws, whose operations he does not see in 
these instances. There is every reason for carrying 
the same process of reasoning over to every thing that 
we call evil. The pains and disappointments and 
sorrows of life, may all be justly placed upon the same 
footing, and reasonably disposed of in the same way. 

There are many things in life from which men recoil, 
as evils, which have nevertheless been shown to be 
good. The pains "of hunger are grievous to be borne ; 
but much enjoyment flows from that very appetite 
whence the pain proceeds. No man would wish to be 
without an appetite for food that he might be safe from 
the pains of hunger; and the man who has suffered 



108 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



from hunger, eats with a relish, which causes him to 
rejoice, that he experienced that sensation. Many of 
our highest enjoyments proceed from a contrast with 
ills, and many of the ills themselves originate the 
sweetest pleasures. Plenty is doubly sweet to the 
man who has suffered want, and health is more precious 
to those who have been deprived of it. Pity, compas- 
sion and benevolence, are drawn out by the fact, that 
there are sufferings, and most of the finer feelings of 
the human heart, from which our highest and holiest 
joys proceed are called into exercise by the ills of life. 
As for our sorrows and afflictions, it does not appear 
how far they are calculated to develope and strengthen 
our faculties, improve our minds, and train us for higher 
and nobler enjoyments. That the temper and dispo- 
sition of the mind is improved and exalted, under their 
chastening influence, and enjoyment consequently in- 
creased, no man can dispute. Reasoning therefore, 
from the known to the unknown, we may do as the 
philosopher has in physical nature, and conclude that 
all that is dark and mysterious in our own lives, is 
truly well ordered, and conducive to ultimate good. It 
is said of the celebrated philosopher Spurzheim, that 
when about to select a wife, he chose a lady who had 
seen great affliction. With him it was a fixed principle 
that great mental suffering was necessary for the de- 
velopment of the highest and purest qualities of the 
soul. Upon this theory I remark in the language of 
another: " It is hard to heave the sigh, to shed the mid- 
night tear, to feel sorrow pressing heavily on the naked 
heart, and such sorrow too as we dare not suffer any 
one but God to look upon — it is hard and bitter, yet 
under its chastening influence, it is not for us to say 
how much the heart beautifies, and the will acquires 



GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 



109 



the principles of obedience. How many deathless 
works of genius have been forced into being by the 
iron hand of poverty. Debts, embarrassment and want 
have been the uncongenial yet creative elements of 
poetry and romance." Does any one ask if an all-wise 
God could not have made man, so that these ends could 
have been attained by other means ? I answer, yes, 
but he must have been a very different being from what 
he is now. There is no doubt that he could have made 
man an angel. But this is not the question. We are 
not inquiring whether God could not have made a 
different order of beings: but we are to take man as 
we find him, and see if there is not goodness in his 
Creator and governor. To this object my remarks 
have been directed, and it remains for you to decide 
whether the many positive evidences in favour of the 
divine government and goodness, are to yield to the 
single objection, that there is in existence what we 
deem evil. For me I say 

u 1 cannot go 

Where universal Love smiles not around. 
Sustaining all yon orbs and all their suns, 
From seeming evil, still educing good ; 
And better thence again, and better still 
In infinite progression." 

If I haVe adduced any evidence of the divine govern- 
ment, place it to the credit of that Bible which declares 
that " the Lord reigneth." I remark in conclusion, 
that even the Bible does not profess to explain all the 
mysteries of the divine government. It points to the 
heavens, the works of his ringer, and records many 
striking instances of the development of the principles 
of his government, but in many things it bows in 
silence and confesses that his ways are hid in the great 
10 



110 GOVERNMENT OF GOD. 

deep, and that clouds and darkness are round about 
him. But to all the clearest displays of his overruling 
power, the language of Job is appropriate : " Lo, these 
are parts of his ways, but how little a portion is seen 
of him." 



DISCOURSE VII. 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 

Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth ; much more 
the wicked and the sinner. Proverbs xi. 31. 

My last discourse was devoted to a consideration of 
the doctrine of the divine government. Intimately con- 
nected with this is the doctrine of rewards and punish- 
ments. I have laboured to prove that God has estab- 
lished a moral government in the earth, and I now 
proceed with an attempt to show that this government 
is administered upon the principles of justice and equity. 
God rewards the virtuous and punishes the vicious, ac- 
cording to the dictates of impartial justice. This is 
the doctrine of the text, and it perfectly corresponds 
with the uniform testimony of both the Old and the 
New Testament. I shall be satisfied if I am able to 
prove that this doctrine of the Bible is sanctioned by 
facts exhibited in the experience of man. I have re- 
marked, that God has given to man a moral constitu- 
tion which has its laws, and by which his moral conduct 
is regulated. I have further said that the moral laws 
of the Bible have an existence more enduring than ink 
and paper, or even tables of stone can impart. They 
are written by the finger of God upon man's moral 
nature, and form a part of his very constitution. I will 
explain still further. The whole moral code of the 
Bible is comprehended in the two commands, which 



112 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 



enjoin it upon us to love God and our neighbours. Now, 
man's moral constitution is such, the world over, tfiat 
he cannot arrive at the highest point of enjoyment 
without obedience to this law. He is so made, that 
when he obeys this law, he is happy, and he cannot 
infringe one hair's breadth upon its requirements with- 
out doing an act of violence to his own moral nature. 
You will perceive then, that this law has its foundation 
in the very nature of man, and is not a mere arbitrary 
command, originating in the whim or caprice of the 
lawgiver. Thus the Scripture is fulfilled which saith, 
li I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it 
in their hearts." The Bible might be destroyed en- 
tirely, and yet, that law would remain. It would still 
be true, eternally and universally true, that the only 
appropriate element of the mind, and the only healthful 
employment of man's moral powers is loving God and 
man, and in acts proceeding from that love. This is 
the native element of the soul, and this its appropriate 
and only sphere of healthful moral action. All other 
employments degrade and debase the mind, and here, 
and here alone, the full strength and glory of the moral 
man is developed. To use another figure ; love is the 
aliment upon which the moral nature of man feeds, and 
grows to its full stature, and as for hatred and every 
unholy passion and practice, their elfect is like that of 
poison upon the body, destroying its powers and insin- 
uating its fatal influence through aH the channels of 
healthful existence. If these things are so, and I am 
not aware that infidelity itself has ever denied them, 
then the doctrine of rewards and punishments may be 
logically argued "a priori," from the very nature of 
man. There are certain laws of man's corporeal sys- 
tem which must be obeyed, or we suffer the conse- 1 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 113 

quences. When obeyed, the reward is certain, and not 
one of them can be transgressed with impunity. The 
health of the body requires that a man should eat. This 
is a law of his nature, and if he transgresses it, he will 
suffer the consequences. Bo also, another law of na- 
ture requires moderation and temperance in eating and 
drinking, and when a man in obedience to this law is 
temperate in all things, he is richly rewarded in the 
firmness and health of body that he enjoys. But when 
any man infringes upon this law of his physical con- 
stitution, nature will chasten him for his disobedience. 
From these considerations the presumption is unques- 
tionable, that the same is true of our moral natures. If 
God has given to man's moral nature any laws, then 
there can be no doubt but their violation will as cer- 
tainly entail its own bitter consequences, as the viola- 
tion of a law of our corporeal system will have this 
effect. In like manner, an obedience to these laws will 
secure its own reward. Upon these principles, there- 
fore, we contend that the doctrine of rewards and 
punishments is placed on strong ground, and this is 
the scriptural view of the subject. I know the world 
has long been of the opinion that God cannot punish a 
man unless he takes a rod and scourges him as you 
would correct a refractory child, and it is for this reason 
that men have been looking both for rewards and pun- 
ishments in something foreign to, or over and above 
their virtues and vices. But it is not necessary for 
God to pursue such a course. What he does once is 
done for ever. He gave laws to man's moral nature in 
the first place, and bound obedience and happiness, dis- 
obedience and misery together, by a tie that eternity 
cannot dissolve. In this manner rewards and punish- 
ments were provided for of old, and treasured up for the 
10* 



114 



REWARDS A8ft PUNISHMENTS. 



virtuous and the vicious in all coming time, and they 
follow with a certainty that cannot be eluded * Thus 
the Scriptures speak, "His judgments are just, and in 
keeping them there is great reward, but there is no 
peace to the wicked.'' Thus you may see that reason 
and the Scriptures harmonize in teaching the doctrine 
of rewards and punishments. 

But I rest not the defence of this doctrine upon any 
process of reasoning alone, however logical or conclu- 
sive it may be ; for there are facts that may be heard 
upon this subject, and to these I appeal for the proof 
of the text, " Behold, the righteous shall be recom- 
pensed in the earth : much more the wicked and the 
sinner." If you examine your own individual experi- 
ence you will find it recorded there, in language too 
plain to be misunderstood, that the nearer you have 
come in your feelings and practice to the great law of 
love, the greater have been your enjoyments on the one 
hand ; and on the other, you have suffered for each and 
every departure from that law. I ask you. when were 
you the happiest ? And I answer for you ; it was when 
»*you felt most of the spirit of love to God and man, and 
when your powers were employed in acts of kindness 
to your fellow creatures. These are the green spots 
upon the desert of life around which fond memory lin- 
gers with delight, and calls forth the wish that all else 
was like this. I ask again, when were you most mis- 
erable 1 And again I answer for you, it was when 
consuming fires of hatred, with revenge, or cruelty, were 
waked up in your bosom, and your hands were em- 
ployed in injuring your brethren. Now this principle 
was just as true in your childhood, before you could 
read your Bible, as it is now. When you were angry 



* See note H. 



AND PtTMiSHMENm 



115 



you Were miserable even in childhood, but when you 
felt the warm spirit of love for parents or brethren, or 
Companions, at work in your heart, then you were happy* 
This was not the effect of a revelation of God's law 3 
but it was the effect of the original law itself, stamped 
upon the nature of the soul, by the forming hand of the 
Creator. But the law does not end here* The posi- 
tive enjoyment or suffering which we experience at the 
time, we harbour love or hate, is not all that should be 
taken into the account. Conscience erects in the mind 
of those to whom the law is revealed, her tribunal, and 
memory opens fountains of joy, or brings up visions of 
grief from the oblivion of the past. I ask, which of you 
has ever loved a brother or done him a kindness, the 
recollection of which does not to this moment cause 
sensations of the purest joy to steal over the soul ? Not 
one. Who among you can say, that he has ever hated 
a brother or done him an injury, the remembrance of 
which does not give him a pang of regret ? You may 
carry this principle back to the earliest dawn of your 
existence, and till you come where the oblivious tide 
of utter forgetfulness conceals every trace of the past, 
you will find no exceptions. I know not indeed how- 
others may feel, but " as face answereth to face in a 
glass, so the heart of man to man," and judging from 
my own experience and the operations of my own mind, 
I conclude that it is even so with you all. I look back 
to the days of my early childhood and youth, I remem- 
ber how I was angry with a brother, or sought revenge 
of my companions, and, God forgive me, I wish it were 
otherwise. These are the only clouds that obscure 
the brightness of my youthful morning, and I would to 
heaven that they were moved away. In like manner, 
I remember my affection and love for my brethren and 



116 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 



companions, and the little offices of kindness I have 
done them ; the recollection is a cordial to my spirits, 
and most devoutly do I wish, that this heart had never 
harboured an angry feeling or these hands performed 
an evil act. These are developments of the laws of 
man's moral nature, obedience to which is joy, and 
every infraction of which, is sure to meet with a just 
recompense of reward. They are as clearly manifested 
as any laws of our physical constitution, ant* tkcir op- 
erations as sure and certain. 

I might take a much wider field of observation, and 
should arrive at the same conclusion at last. If you 
were to search for a happy man, where would you go ? 
Would you go to the haunts of vice, aud select among 
its votaries the man in whose besom the fires of hatred, 
and wrath, and revenge, and cruelty, are wasting and 
consuming ? Nay ; for in him you would expect to find 
a man emphatically poor, and miserable, and blind, and 
naked. But go to the good man, whose heart is warm 
with the pure spirit of benevolence and love, and whose 
hands are engaged in works of kindness, and there you 
will find happiness in its greatest earthly perfection. 
Do you wish for proof of this ? Go then and examine 
the ways of the transgressor, and if you do not find the 
clearest evidence that his is indeed a "hard way," then 
must you be blind to every appearance of evil, and in- 
sensible to the absence of all good. 

Take the liar, who in the spirit of hatred or revenge, 
uttered his malicious forgeries to blast the reputation 
of a fellow. Mark him when retired from the world, 
and its noise and bustle ; he sits down in the moments 
of cool contemplation, and reflects upon himself and 
his ways. Busy memory is at work, and he feels the 
gnawings of the restless worm. He feels how vile he 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 



117 



is, and the pains of hell get hold upon him. Take the 
thief, who has laid his hands unlawfully upon his 
neighbour's goods. Behold him arraigned at the bar 
of justice, and led to the prison, and you can here see, 
that the way of the transgressor is hard. Or if he es- 
capes the retribution of the laws of his country, he 
cannot escape the consuming fires that his crime has 
kindled in his own bosom. He starts at the rustling 
leaf, and fears that the officer of justice is upon him. T he 
remembrance of his crime keeps him in perpetual alarm. 
Take the murderer whose ruthless hands have been 
imbrued in the blood of a brother. In ordinary cases 
he is detected and suffers the penalty of the laws of his 
country. This, how T ever, he sometimes may escape. 
But there is a faithful monitor within, whose vigilance 
he cannot elude, and a tribunal there, before which he 
must stand, and hear his condemnation. He may lock 
his crime in the deep recesses of his own soul, where 
the eye of man cannot penetrate ; he may flee from the 
sword of human justice ; but he must carry along with 
him the damning consciousness of his own guilt. Go 
where he will, cruel memory will haunt him with the 
image of his murdered brother, and the voice of blood 
crying from the ground for vengeance, will sound in his 
ears, the requium of departed joy. He may fly to the 
ends of the earth ; that voice will still pursue him. He 
may dig to its very centre and bury his crime there, 
but conscience will sound the trump of its resurrection, 
and from the silence and darkness of the grave it will 
come up, in its freshness to disturb his midnight slum- 
bers — to scare him with dreams and terrify him through 
visions. Are these the men that you would select as 
the happy men of the world 1 Certainly not ; for every 
rule of judgment by which we can decide upon the en- 



118 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 



joyment of our fellow-creatures, will declare that they 
are of all men most miserable. I grant that these are 
strong cases, in which the operation of the violated law 
in bringing the offender to justice, is conspicuously ex- 
hibited. But I maintain, that though the punishment 
of crime in these instances is more easily apprehended 
than in many others, yet it is no more certain. The 
tendency of every departure from the perfect law of love 
is evil, and the man in whom such a departure, even 
though small, is found, does an act of violence to the 
laws of his moral nature, and can no more escape the 
consequences, than the drunkard can escape the evil 
J influence of intemperance. If he indulges in intem- 
perance, he violates the laws of his corporeal system, 
and is undermining the foundation of health and life, 
however slowly, yet certainly. So, the man who in 
any manner departs from the law of love, violates the 
laws of his moral system, and the legitimate and un- 
avoidable consequences are, a loss of that healthful 
tone of the system, which is necessary to the enjoy- 
ment of the full measure of happiness. In this manner 
you can see that God provides for the sure and speedy 
punishment of vice, and the reward of every virtue. 

To this view of rewards and punishments there are 
some objections which are worthy of notice. 

1. From long continuance in sin, men's consciences 
become callous, and they exhibit a deadness of moral 
feeling so great, that they cease to shudder at any crime. 

I will endeavour to present the objection in all its 
force for I know it is with many a very serious one. 
It is admitted that there is a degree of punishment 
resulting from the operation of moral laws of the mind ; 
but it is contended that this punishment is by no means 
graduated by the measure of guilt. One man com- 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 



119 



mences a career of crime, and follows it until he ap- 
pears wholy lost to all moral sensibility. In the outset 
of this career, conscience did its work, and chastened 
him for an offence comparatiyely small. But now he 
has foresworn conscience ; he is a hardened pirate, and 
he can rob and butcher his fellows by scores, and 
discover not the least possible compunction. Now 
says the objector, this man though more vile than Cain, 
and stained with a thousand crimes of a crimson die, 
suffers not half so much from that reproving conscience 
of which you speak, as the man of refined moral sense, 
who steps aside from the path of rectitude in a single 
instance. He is a thousand times more guilty, and 
yet he appears to suffer less. This reasoning I confess 
is somewhat plausible, but of its soundness I have 
serious doubts. I am not altogether certain that this 
morbid insensibility of the moral powers is a state 
very favourable to happiness. I think that the purest 
joys of life flow from refined moral sense, and the 
healthful exercise of the moral powers, in loving God 
and our fellows; and hence, I conclude, that to ener- 
vate or destroy these powers, is of itself a bitter curse. 
The very state of mind which can permit a man to riot 
in crime, is itself hell, in the worst sense, and yet it is 
to this very state of mind, that the argument under 
consideration appeals as an evidence of exemption from 
misery. It is precisely like contending, that a deaf 
man is better off, that those who have the sense of 
hearing, because, he can now stand by the cannon, and 
its roar will not give him pain. But who would de- 
prive himself of the sense of hearing for the purpose 
of enabling him to endure without pain, what to others 
is deafening? Take another illustration. Here is an 
article of poison. To the man of common taste it is 



120 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 



nauseating. He tastes, and it is loathsome. Another 
commences taking that poison, and he soon acquires a 
morbid taste which even craves it, and he daily takes 
without apparent injury, what might prove fatal to 
another. Is this ability to swallow poison with avidity, 
to be placed to that man's credit on the side of enjoy- 
ment? No. The truth is, though his taste is vitiated, 
yet, the article is not less poisonous, and doing the work 
of death in his system ; and the very fact, that he has 
an appetite for the poison, is in itself a curse to be 
dreaded. Here is a man who gets intoxicated for the 
first time in his life. I have no doubt that for the time 
being he suffers more, both mentally and physically, 
than the man who has been in the habit of committing 
this sin. But is it a fact, that the one suffers much and 
the other little % Is it true that the habitual and sottish 
drunkard is happier than the moderately intemperate 
man ? or will the man who for once indulges his appe- 
tite too freely, repine under the consequent suffering and 
envy the condition of the miserable sot, who riots in 
the lowest depths of moral degradation % Absurd and 
even ridiculous as this would be it is nevertheless pre- 
cisely the principle upon which the argument now 
under consideration is based. I beg leave to remark, 
that because a man has steeped his senses, and satu- 
rated his body with alcohol, until he has neither feeling 
nor shame left, it does not follow that he is exempt 
from the legitimate effects of drunkenness. On the 
contrary, the fact that his senses are thus stupified, is the 
most alarming circumstance in the case, and affords 
the clearest proof, that the work of death is going on 
with fearful rapidity. So in this instance, because a 
man has so far debased and stupified his moral sensi- 
bility, that he can drink copious draughts of iniquity 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 



121 



without compunction, it does not follow that he is more 
happy or less miserable than the man of refined moral 
sense. On the contrary, the very fact, that iniquity 
will make such havoc of the moral powers, is proof 
positive, that it is a mortal poison, and that it is at 
work mingling its dregs of death in all sources of bliss, 
and drying up all the fountains of happiness. Tell 
me not, that the hardened wretch who has well nigh 
obliterated the image of God from his moral nature, 
and who has drowned his moral sensibilities in the 
waters of sin, is happy ; for he himself will tell you, 
that he is a poor miserable being, and joy is a stranger 
to his bosom. 

2. The second objection to these views of the doc- 
trine of rewards and punishments is, that appearances 
are against them. 

It often happens that the righteous are afflicted and 
the wicked prospered far above their deserts. Humble 
virtue groans in poverty and distress, under the pres- 
sure of all the ills that " flesh is heir to and vice 
rejoices in its day, surrounded with all the world calls 
good and fortunate. How can this be reconciled with 
the justice of God, or the doctrine of just rewards and 
punishments in the earthy as taught in the Bible? To 
this it would be sufficient to reply, that happiness flows 
not from outward circumstances ; but has its source in 
the mind itself. Hence, judgment founded upon out- 
ward appearances alone, is, and must be frequently 
erroneous. But I wish to be somewhat more particular, 
and I will present the subject in a strong light. Here 
are two men who %e neighbours. One is rich. Health 
blesses his habitation and prosperity crowns his labours. 
The riches of India are wafted to his door upon the 
wings of every wind, and he is surrounded with an 
11 



122 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 



abundance of all the good things of this world. But 
lie is a sinner, of no ordinary cast He loves neither 
God nor man, but in his grasping avarice, and the 
excess of his pride, defies the one, and tramples on the 
other. The other man is poor. His humble cot is the 
abode of sickness and pain and through toil and suf- 
fering he labours for a scanty pittance, scarce sufficient 
to keep himself and children from starvation. But he 
is a virtuous man. He loves God and his neighbour, 
and walks uprightly. Now the question is, which of 
these men is the happiest ? I confess, that there is no 
method by which we can weigh the amount of happi- 
ness enjoyed by either. But we can try them, and see 
how the matter stands, in their own estimation. Go 
to that rich man, and in moments of sober reflection, 
when the efTervessence of the glass or the din of busi- 
ness has left him to himself, say to him, You appear 
anxious and troubled about many things. What would 
you be willing to give for the quietude and joy that 
dwells in the humble cottage of that poor, but virtuous 
man 1 He will tell you, that he would give all that 
he has on earth. If he could gain the peace of mind 
enjoyed by that excellent man, his gold would be but 
dross, and he would count it as nothing, and less than 
nothing and vanity. But go to that good man, and 
try him. Tell him he can become as rich as his neigh- 
bour, and have all his possessions. But he must con- 
sent to make a sacrifice of his virtue and become not 
only as rich but as wicked. What for an answer would 
you receive 1 Why, he would say to you as the 
Saviour said to Peter, " Get thee behind me Satan for 
thou art an offence unto me." Give me my poverty, 
but save me from sin. Give me my distress, but come 
weal or come wo, "my righteousness I will hold 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 



123 



fast. 3 ' You see then, that this man, notwithstanding 
appearances are so much against him, is possessed of 
a jewel more precious than gold, and more desirable 
in his eyes than the riches of Ophir or all the gems of 
India's richest mines. Why then should his poverty 
be urged as an objection to his happiness ? Poor in- 
deed he is, in this world's goods, but rich in faith, rich 
in love, rich in good works, ay, rich in those durable 
possessions that fade not away, that moth or rust doth 
not corrupt, and to which thieves cannot break through 
and steal. The other is rich in earthly goods. But 
poor in faith, poor in love, poor in righteousness, and 
worse than a beggar in every thing that can make him 
happy. Under these circumstances I cannot regard 
the unequal distribution of this world's goods, or any 
apparently unequal division of the common afflictions 
of life, as sufficient to destroy the truth of the position, 
that the good man is happy in his virtue, and the bad 
man, miserable in his vice. 

3. It is objected to this doctrine of rewards and pun- 
ishments, that the same acts are not universally deemed 
criminal. 

One individual is educated to believe that a particular 
act is criminal, and he feels condemned and miserable 
when he performs it ; another is taught, that this same 
act is not criminal, and he does it without the least 
compunction. The Bible has never circulated over 
but a part of the earth, and if this contains the moral 
law upon which rewards and punishments are founded, 
then the greater part of the world is without a law, and 
consequently without rewards and punishments upon 
the principles of that law. Moreover the fact, that one 
man's conscience scourges him for the same act, that 
another will approve, is deemed good evidence, that 



124 REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 

there are no such moral laws written upon the heart, 
as I have contended. To this I reply, that the exis- 
tence of man's moral nature, subject to certain immu- 
table laws is one thing; and the revelation of those 
laws in the Bible is another, and these two ought not 
to be confounded. These laws may exist and man may 
be ignorant of them. Take the laws of man's physical 
constitution as an illustration. There are certain laws 
to be regarded for the preservation of the health of the 
body. Whether men know these laws and regard them, 
or not, does not effect their existence, or have any in- 
fluence upon the consequences of their violation. If 
an ignorant savage unwittingly takes poison, it will 
injure him as soon and as deeply, as if he had been 
acquainted with its nature. In this light I look upon 
the moral constitution of man. It has its laws which 
must be observed, in order to preserve the moral health. 
Their being hid or revealed does not effect the fact of 
their existence, nor will it alter the legitimate conse- 
quences of their violation. I care not w^hat a man's 
education may be. I say this, God has so made men, 
that if they would be happy they must love one another 
and be kind, and a neglect of this, whether in saint or 
savage, will be followed with misery. Anger and 
hatred can no more make a savage happy than they 
can a Christian, and if he gets intoxicated he will 
suffer the consequences as any other man would. 
Now I come to the point of the argument. Where 
these laws are known and their obligations and sanc- 
tions are understood, there the criminality of disobedi- 
ence is increased, and there conscience commences her 
work, and chastens the sinner sore for his crimes. I 
will take a strong case as an illustration. It shall be 
the sin of intemperance, and I select this because its 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 125 

effects are more outward and visible, though not more 
sure than those of other crimes. Here is a man who 
knows the law which enjoins temperance in all things, 
and acknowledges its authority. There is a poor mor- 
tal who has come to believe it a duty to practice intem- 
perance. The first of these falls into the habitual and 
excessive use of intoxicating drinks. He suffers in his 
body the consequences, and in addition to this the 
remorse of an accusing conscience. The other commits 
the same act, but he has no remorse. He even glories 
in it, as praiseworthy. But will this save him from the 
common consequences of drunkenness ? Will it pre- 
vent the red eye, the bloated countenance, and the 
palsied limb ? No ; for this law of temperance cannot 
be violated with impunity, even though ignorantly done. 
I grant you that the ignorant man surfers the least, and 
so he ought, for he is the least criminal. But they 
were both punished, and that too, upon the obvious 
principle of justice laid down in Scripture, " He that 
knoweth his master's will and doeth it not, shall be 
beaten with many stripes ; but he that knoweth it not 
shall be beaten with few." Mark, it does not say he 
shall not be beaten at all. And why ? Simply because 
the law is written upon his moral nature, and every 
infraction must be followed by its evil consequences. 
The revelation of this law to any individual, lays him 
under increased obligations of obedience, and of course 
increases his criminality, and subjects him to severer 
punishment. The same principles are true when re- 
ferred to the subject of rewards. Those who are with- 
out a revelation of the laws of God are a law unto 
themselves, and if by nature they do the things con- 
tained in the law, they shall in no case lose their re- 
ward. Hear then, the conclusion of the whole matter. 
11* 



126 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 



The laws of man's moral nature require us to love one 
another, for in this our highest happiness consists. To 
some this law is revealed, and others are ignorant of it. 
If those to whom it is revealed transgress, they suffer, 
not only the natural consequences of transgression, but 
the remorse of conscience. Thus they are beaten with 
many stripes. If those who are ignorant of it by rev- 
elation, hate one another, they escape to be sure, any 
remorse of conscience, but they do violence to the best 
principles of their own nature, and injure themselves. 
Thus they are beaten with fewer stripes. These things 
are not theory but fact. I lay it down as a truth which 
no man with a smattering of knowledge of the human 
mind can dispute, that no son of Adam can possibly 
hate another without detracting from his own happiness ; 
or love his fellows and do them good, without increasing 
the sum of his joys. Whether he ever saw or heard of a 
Bible or not, this principle is true, and upon it the whole 
doctrine of rewards and punishments is founded ; for* 
all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this ! " Thou 
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." It only remains 
to apply the subject to the object for which I entered 
upon its investigation. The Bible teaches in all its 
parts, that God has established his laws, and that the 
good and obedient shall be rewarded, and the disobe- 
dient punished. If I have proved that this is true, then 
I have proved that the Bible so far, speaks the language 
of truth and soberness. I am conscious of having la- 
boured under the disadvantage of treading in an almost 
unbeaten path. The world of professing Christians 
have been so long engaged in searching for rewards 
and punishments beyond the curtain of death, that little 
or no light has been thrown upon those facts and phe- 
nomena of mind which prove that these rewards and 



REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS, 127 

punishments are to be found where the Bible places 
them, in the earth. He that would investigate this 
subject can derive little aid from the labours of his 
predecessors. He must take his own light along with 
him, and plod his way through hosts of prejudices, and 
the accumulated darkness of ages, and he may con- 
gratulate himself at last if he can leave behind him a 
few landmarks which may guide the future traveller on 
his way. If I have done even thus much, I am satisfied. 

One idea more and I have done. It appears to me 
that the perfect harmony which subsists between the 
laws of man's moral nature, and the revealed laws of 
the Bible, affords a strong argument in favour of the 
divine original of the latter. The wisdom of man has 
been tasked in vain to invent a code of moral laws 
which should be so well adapted to man's moral nature 
Chat obedience would secure his highest happiness. But 
he that made the moral man knew what laws were 
suitable for him, and the perfect adaptation of the one 
to the other, is a strong presumptive argument that they 
both came from the same hand. The perfect adapta- 
tion of food to the wants of the body is no better evi- 
dence that it was made by the same God, than is this 
adaptation of the revealed laws of God to man's moral 
nature an evidence that they came from the same source. 



DISCOURSE VIII. 



DIVINE PROMISES. 

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises* 

2. Peter i. 14. 

The Bible is valuable as a declaration of present 
truth, and as a record of things that are past. But it is 
not less valuable when viewed as a revelation of things 
that are to come. Its history is good ; its teachings are 
desirable ; but more precious than all are its promises 
of grace, which penetrate the darkness of the future, 
and give man a foretaste of joys yet in reserve for him. 
Hitherto, I have confined my attention to those teach- 
ings of Scripture which apply to the present, and the 
past, and I now turn my attention to those " great and 
precious promises" which refer to the future. I have 
shown that the Bible teaches the existence, power, 
wisdom, goodness, justice and government of God, and 
that nature, experience and reason sanction these teach- 
ings. According to the text, there are certain " exceed- 
ing great and precious promises" in the Bible ; and the 
question now before us is, whether these promises are 
consistent with the character and government of such 
a God as has been previously delineated? If so, they 
are entitled to credit. But if it shall be found upon 
examination, that the promises of the Bible in relation 
to the future, do not harmonize either with the char- 
acter of God, or the exhibitions of his government, in 



DIVINE PROMISES. 



129 



times past ; then surely they cannot reasonably be sup- 
posed to come from God. That God is powerful, wise, 
just and good, is testified by nature, providence, and 
revelation, and must be regarded as most sacredly true. 
It matters not what doctrines come in contact with these 
truths, or in what book they are found ; all such must 
be as false as these are true. The tree is known by its 
fruit, and the fountain by the waters that it sends forth. 
Hence if any of the promises of the Bible betray a lack 
of power, wisdom, goodness or justice, it will appear to 
the reasonable mind as utterly impossible that they 
should come from God, as it would be for a sweet foun- 
tain to send forth bitter waters. But if, on the other 
hand, it shall be found that these promises are marked 
with the power, wisdom, justice and goodness of God, 
and harmonize with the known and established princi- 
ples of his government ; then indeed will they carry 
along with them the resistless evidence of their divine 
origin, and we can with as much certainty pronounce 
that they came from God, as we can decide from 
whence sweet waters flow, or good fruit proceeds. The 
question comes before us in due form ; are the promises 
held forth in the Bible and called exceeding great and 
precious, such as we might reasonably expect from a 
God of all power, wisdom, goodness and justice '\ 

I shall pass very briefly over those promises which 
relate to the dispensations of God's providence with us 
in this world. It may suffice to observe, in general, 
that we have in Scripture, assurances of the most faith- 
ful guidance, care, kindness and protection of the Most 
High. If we walk in wisdom's ways, we are most 
solemnly assured that we shall find abundance of peace, 
that God will support us in six troubles, and in seven 
he will not leave nor forsake us. If we transgress, he 



130 



DIVINE PROMISES. 



here promises that we shall not be unpunished ; " he 
will visit our transgressions with the rod, and our in- 
iquities with stripes, nevertheless, his loving kindness 
he will not utterly take from us, nor cause his faithful- 
ness to fail." Now, I ask, are not these precisely such 
promises as we might naturally expect from such a God 
as the Bible presents for our adoration, and nature and 
providence teach us to revere ? I ask further, have not 
these promises been verified in your own experience 
hitherto? It has been a long time since they were 
made, and where is the man who will dare rise up and 
say, that he has found them false or deceptive in one 
s-olitary instance ? You have practised the moral pre- 
cepts of the Bible. I appeal to you, if you have not 
found abundance of peace in so doing ? I ask, have 
you not according to the letter and spirit of the promise 
been supported in six troubles, yea, and in seven also ? 
Tell me, has not your peace been as a river, and the 
cup of your joy been full ? You cannot answer in the 
negative. No man ever yet walked in wisdom's ways 
who did not find them ways of pleasantness and all her 
paths peace. But you have disregarded the voice of 
wisdom from on high, and have turned your feet into 
the way of the transgressor. I ask, have you not found 
from bitter experience, that it is a hard way, beset with 
thorns and briers on every side ? Have you not found 
God faithful to his promise in visiting your transgres- 
sions with the rod, and your iniquities with stripes ? 
If these things are so, and that they are, no mortal man 
will venture to dispute, then permit me to ask, what 
possible reason there can be for the supposition that it 
will not be so in future? If God has been faithful to 
the fulfilment of these promises in time that has passed, 
what good reason can any man render for disputing the 



DIVINE FROMISESo 



131 



authenticity or truth of that word which guaranties 
that it shall be so as long as the world stands % I hold 
it not in the least at variance with the character of God 
to say, that he has made just such promises as these, 
and I envy no man his discernment, who contends that 
the Bible is false and inconsistent, because it tells us 
God has promised to give us in future precisely what 
he has given us all our life long. But there are greater 
and more precious promises than these, which will now 
claim our attention. I notice among them, 

1. The promise of the forgiveness of sin. 

You are aware that the pardon or forgiveness of sin 
forms no inconsiderable item in the plan of gospel 
grace j and I could not feel satisfied in passing it over 
in silence, especially as I know, that it is not unfre- 
quently made a ground of objection against the truth 
of the Christian religion. You will recollect, that I 
have argued the positive punishment of sin, from the 
established laws of man's moral nature. I have shown 
you that man is so constituted that every infraction of 
the great law of love revealed in the Bible, is also a 
violation of the laws of man's moral nature, whose 
healthful operations are necessary for his happiness, 
and hence that every sin will meet with a bitter and 
inevitable reward. There are sceptics of the more 
moderate stamp who admit this reasoning to be correct 
They also contend, that vice will inevitably be pun- 
ished, and prove it in the manner I have done, from 
reason and experience. When they have done this 
they urge it as an objection against Christianity. They 
say, the Bible teaches as one of its most important doc- 
trines, the forgiveness of sin ; thus promising an escape 
from the punishment of iniquity, which a just God 
could not promise, and which neither reason or expe- 



132 



DIVINE PROMISES. 



rience will grant. They therefore contend that it 
would impeach the justice of God to send a promise 
of impunity to the vicious and the profligate, and hence 
they say the Scripture doctrine of forgiveness could not 
come from God. 

Those who reason after this manner would he ma- 
terially benefited if they would learn their notions of 
forgveness from the Bible itself, instead of taking them 
at second-hand from those who claim to be the inter- 
preters of the word. If they will take the trouble to 
examine the Bible for the purpose of learning what is 
there taught upon this subject; they will soon be satis- 
fied that the remission of just punishment forms no part 
of the Scripture doctrine of forgiveness. It is no doubt 
true, that there are many professed Christians who are in 
the same error with themselves, but it is not the less erro- 
neous on that account. The Scriptures do indeed treat 
somewhat largely upon the forgiveness of sin, and fre- 
quently promise it to the world ; but there are some who do 
not seem to distinguish between sin and punishment and 
these need to be told, that though the Bible abounds in 
promises of forgiveness, it is always the forgiveness of 
sin ; and they will for ever search in vain for a promise 
which gives assurance of the forgiveness of just and 
adequate punishment. On the contrary, the testimony 
of Scripture is uniform and most emphatic, that 11 God 
will by no means clear the guilty," and "he that doeth 
wrong shall receive for the wrong that he hath done;" 
yea, even though hand join in hand, the wicked shall 
not be unpunished." In this light it may be seen that 
the Scriptures are in perfect harmony with reason and 
experience, in teaching the sure and inevitable punish- 
ment of vice ; and against this principle the doctrine 
of forgiveness or pardon, when correctly understood 



DIVINE PROMISES. 



133 



does not in the least militate. It is the forgiveness or 
pardon of sm, not the remission of punishment or a 
promise of impunity to the criminal. That these views 
of the harmony between the Scripture doctrine of for- 
giveness and the fact of punishment, are correct, may 
be seen from a single quotation : " Comfort ye, comfort 
ye, my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably 
to Jerusalem, and cry unto her. that her warfare is ac- 
complished, and her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath 
received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." 
Again it is said of God, that he is "merciful and gra- 
cious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and 
truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and that 
he will by no means clear the guilty." From these 
quotations it is perfectly evident that there was in the 
minds of the sacred penmen no clashing between the 
idea of forgiveness and just punishment ; and they had 
no notion that a promise of forgiveness of sin, was also 
a promise to free from just and proper punishment, for 
sin actually committed* To pardon or forgive sin, as 
the sacred writers use these terms, is not to omit the 
just punishment of actual transgression, for this God 
says he will not by any means do : but it is to remove, 
blot out, or take away sin itself.* Hence, Christ is said 
to have come, not to deliver the sinner from justice, but 
to " save his people from their sins and the same 
sentiment is conveyed where he is called the " Lamb 
of God, that taketh away (forgiveth) the sin of the 
world." For this purpose, " he was once offered that 
he might put away (forgive or pardon) sin by the sac- 
rifice of himself." Now let us look at the promise of 
forgiveness in this, its true and proper light. Behold, 
" he will finish sin. make an end of transgression, and 



* See note I. 

12 



134 



DIVINE PROMISES, 



bring in everlasting righteousness." He shall " subdM 
all things unto himself," to him " every knee shall bow 
and every tongue shall confess," and " all thrones and 
dominions shall serve and obey him." These are the 
"great and precious" promises which the doctrine of 
forgiveness and pardon calls us to contemplate, and the 
question to which I invite your attention is, whether 
they are not worthy the character of a God of power, 
wisdom, goodness and justice ? and whether the estab- 
lished principles of his government manifested in the 
history of the world, will not warrant us in the conclu- 
sion, that they will in due time, be accomplished? 
They are certainly promises that could be safely made 
by no being but one possessed of power far above what 
is possessed by man. They are such as an Almighty 
God alone would venture to make, or attempt to fulfil. 
It would also require wisdom to bring order out of con- 
fusion, and adapt means to the accomplishment of an 
end so vast, so stupendous, and which must be effected 
too in accordance with the complicated machinery of 
mind and motive already in operation. It is a work 
that the rash hand of folly could not undertake with 
any reasonable prospect of success, and a promise that 
would argue madness in any being who was not pos- 
sessed of infinite wisdom. When it is considered that 
man's highest happiness consists in obedience to the 
laws of heaven, and that the Way of sin is hard and 
miserable, goodness will shine conspicuously from that 
promise which guaranties to all an exemption from the 
sorrows of sin, and the full fruition of those joys that 
flow in perennial streams in the way of virtue and ho- 
liness. In like manner justice would sanction the end 
contemplated in the promise. God as the Creator and 
preserver of all, has claims upon their obedience, 



DIVINE PROMISES. 



135 



founded in the strictest justice ; and it is perfectly con- 
sistent with the character of a just God to destroy all 
injustice and enforce that perfect obedience which his 
law requires. You see then, that this promise of the 
forgiveness and destruction of all sin, bears the impress 
of its Divine Author. It is precisely such a promise as 
a God of power, wisdom, goodness and justice, would 
be likely to make, and his whole character affords 
ground for the reasonable expectation that it will be 
fulfilled. 

But there are other considerations which lead us to 
anticipate the fulfilment of these promises. The very 
nature of sin itself is an argument to this end. It con- 
tains the seeds of its own dissolution, and needs little 
more than the workings of its own discordant materials 
to effect its overthrow. It is like the fire that consumes ; 
it will go out at last, for the want of fuel. Anger can- 
not always burn, for its fires will consume the very 
source from whence they draw their heat. The spirit 
of war and contention, if left to its own workings, 
would destroy itself, and compel men from dire neces- 
sity to seek peace and preserve it. On the contrary the 
virtues enjoined upon us in the Bible are necessary to 
our happiness, and they have a self-perpetuating power, 
which must give them an immortal existence. That 
they are absolutely necessary, and that man could not 
exist without them, is evident from the fact, that they 
are to be found in some degree even among the most 
abandoned of our race. Pirates and thieves are abso- 
lutely compelled to practice some degree of honesty 
among themselves. Without it, they could not live in 
social compact. Now if such is the absolute necessity 
of adherence to virtuous principles, if virtue is thus 
indispensable, and vice so destructive of human happi- 



136 



DIVINE PROMISES. 



ness, it will be strange indeed, if man with a love of 
enjoyment for the mainspring of every action, does 
not some day learn where the glittering prize may be 
found, and discover and avoid the poison of vice. These 
considerations alone w r ould lead us to count that prom- 
ise, not the most incredible, which guaranties the 
ultimate destruction of all sin and the universal reign 
of righteousness and true holiness. And then when 
it is reflected that God himself is holy, and that streams 
of immortal purity are flowing from his throne, to w r ater 
the earth, and purge out every thing that offends ; when 
it is remembered that vice stands opposed to his char- 
acter as well as to the principles of his holy government, 
there need be no hesitation or fear of credulity, in be- 
lieving in all its length and breadth, that promise, 
which guaranties the utter downfall of the kingdom of 
darkness and the establishment of holiness in every 
heart. I contend therefore, that when the Bible teaches 
God will forgive, take away or destroy all vice and 
iniquity, it teaches that he will do just what we might 
expect from such a God as nature and revelation unite 
in teaching us to recognise and adore. This promise 
is therefore, a " faithful saying and worthy of all ac- 
ceptation." 

2. The next and chief among the " great and pre- 
cious promises," is that which gives the gracious assur- 
ance of life and immortality beyond the grave. 

This is indeed the chief and crowning excellency of 
the gospel of Christ, and with it Christianity must 
stand or fall. Destroy this and you destroy all that 
can render the religion of Jesus dear to the heart, as a 
revelation which penetrates the future world. It is 
true, that without it, the moral precepts would be val- 
uable j but it would lose its chief glory, inasmuch as it 



DIVINE PROMISES. 



137 



Would be rendered powerless in the warfare with the 
king of terrors, and even its moral precepts would lose 
that sanction and authority, which they derive from 
the resurrection of its author from the dead. In the 
gospel God promises to raise a world from the slumbers 
of the grave to life immortal, and as an earnest of that 
inheritance, has raised Christ from the dead. So the 
Scriptures teach, and an examination and defence of 
this doctrine will be the subject of this and some suc- 
ceeding discourses. This doctrine has been assailed 
by sceptics, with perhaps more zeal and confidence 
than any other feature of Christianity, and hence I shall 
be under the necessity of giving it a more enlarged and 
diligent examination than I have bestowed upon any 
other principle of revealed religion that I have passed 
in review. 

I must remark in the outset, that a mass of tradition 
and folly has been thrown around this doctrine, which 
has rendered many of the attempts to vindicate it little 
better than darkening counsel by words without know- 
ledge. From this circumstance it has happened, that 
the arguments of infidelity, have been directed to the 
corruptions which superstition has introduced, rather 
than the genuine doctrine itself, as taught in the Bible. 
It is therefore necessary for me before I proceed to a 
vindication of the resurrection, to remove the rubbish 
by which its beauty has so long been obscured, and its 
legitimate effects lost to the church. I will not un- 
dertake to defend those heathen fables and childish 
superstitions, which interested or ignorant mortals have 
endeavoured to palm upon the world by baptizing them 
in the name of Christ. My business is to defend the 
gospel, as it came from its author. I would therefore, 
separate the dross from the gold, and if man has sown 
12* 



138 



DIVINE PROMISES, 



tares with the wheat, I cannot avoid, however much I 
may regret the necessity, of turning aside from the 
legitimate object of these discourses, to pluck them up 
and consign them to the fire to be burned. If I can 
succeed in presenting the doctrine of life and immor- 
tality clearly before you in this discourse — in tearing 
away the veil which has so long obscured its beauty, 
and in showing that some of the most prominent ob- 
jections against it, are aimed at the doctrines of men, 
rather than the promise of God, it will be as much 
as I expect. In relation to the scripture doctrine of the 
resurrection from the dead, I remark 

1. It is widely different from the ancient heathen 
doctrine of the soul's immortality, and ought never to 
be confounded with it, or mistaken for it. 

Some of the ancient philosophers said, that the soul 
was immortal; and for aught I know they told the 
truth ; but of this one thing I am certain, that none of 
them were Christians, nor did they teach the Christian 
doctrine. Nor am I willing to allow that it was Plato 
instead of Christ, that first brought life and immortality 
to light. I am sensible that this doctrine has been 
incorporated with Christianity, and that at this day it 
appears inwoven with the whole texture of the gospel. 
So highly important is it viewed by the professors of 
religion, that one who listens to their constant harping 
upon the theme of immortal souls, would be almost 
ready to conclude, that the gospel is little else than a 
new and improved version of Plato's philosophy. I 
wish to be distinctly understood upon this subject. I 
do not say that man has not an immortal soul. I will 
grant, that there are some arguments in favour of that 
doctrine which are plausible at least, and there are also 
others against it of which the same may be said. But 



DIVINE PROMISES, 



139 



this I do say, the Bible clearly and plainly reveals no 
such doctrine, and if held at all it should be held as a 
philosophical opinion, rather than a clear doctrine of 
revelation. As a philosophical theory, I have no ob- 
jections to the doctrine of the souPs immortality. It 
may be true for aught I know to the contrary, but I do 
most seriously object to laying that doctrine of heathen 
origin, as a burden upon the neck of Christians, and 
more strongly still do I feel bound to protest against 
the principle, of taking the glory of the revelation of 
life and immortality from Christ, to bestow upon a set 
of heathen philosophers who flourished long before his 
day. I aver, that the only ground of hope for life im- 
mortal, presented in the sacred volume, is the resur- 
rection of the dead, to be accomplished by the mighty 
power of God.* The ancients believed in the immor- 
tality of the soul, long before the days of Christ, and 
upon this foundation they reared a trembling hope, that 
they should live again. But this is not the foundation 
upon which the Christian should build. God has laid 
in Zion a corner stone, tried and precious, upon which 
we may found our hopes. That stone is Christ and 
his triumphant resurrection from the dead. To this the 
Christian is pointed, with the assurance that other 
foundation can no man lay than that which is here 
laid. I care not how much or how long this stone may 
have been set at naught by the builders, it is, and it 
must ever be the head of the corner. I have noted this 
circumstance, because it is in itself a sufficient answer 
to all sceptical objections against Christianity, which 
are aimed at the soul's immortality. They all go wide 
of the mark. It belongs not to the Christian to answer 
them, for they touch not the proper foundation of his 



Ses note J. 



140 



DIVINE PROMISES, 



hope. It matters not how cogently you may reason 
against the soul's immortality, for you are not reasoning 
against Christ, but the philosophers. I will not there- 
fore, pause to enter upon the merits of your argument. 
It belongs to those who build upon this foundation to 
perform this work. For me I say with Paul, " if Christ 
be not risen my hope is vain j" " but now is Christ 
risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them 
that slept." Henceforward, if any man wishes to over- 
throw the Christian hope of life and immortality, let 
him lay hold of the doctrine of the resurrection, and if 
he can remove that corner stone, the superstructure 
will fall. 

2. There is another doctrine which is now generally 
considered inseparable from the one I have had under 
consideration which must not be passed over, I allude 
to the doctrine of interminable suffering. 

It is commonly believed that there will be in the 
future world a general judgment, when all men shall 
be assembled before their final judge, to receive that 
sentence from which there is no appeal, and which will 
fix their eternal interests beyond the possibility of any 
alteration. Then some will be received to immortal 
bliss and others sink into the hopeless miseries of per- 
petual despair. I am conscious that it is a hard task 
to convince people, that this is not Christianity. It has 
been believed so long, and preached so much, that 
although it were the very "abomination of desolation 
standing where it ought not," it would claim the place 
by possession, and it were hard to persuade the world 
that it was out of place. But however long and sin- 
cerely this doctrine of perpetual wo has been believed, ' 
I fearlessly aver, that if I had the remotest idea it was 
embraced in the promises of the Bible, I would nor 



DIVINE PROMISES. 



141 



stand here pleading for its truth. In my humble esti- 
mation such a sentiment would, if it were found in the 
sacred book be sufficient to warrant the conclusion that 
it came not from God. It contradicts the character of 
God as therein presented, and as proclaimed by the 
voice of nature. Such a sentiment can no more har- 
monize with the idea of a God, possessed of infinite 
power, wisdom, goodness and justice, than light can 
harmonize with darkness; and it can no more flow 
from such a God, than streams of death can issue from 
the fountain of life. Hear the argument of the sceptic 
for one moment. Christian, says he, you profess to 
believe in a God of infinite goodness, and yet you say 
he will call up from the grave millions of his creatures 
for the sole and only purpose of tormenting them with 
inconceivable pain without mitigation, without mercy, 
and without end. You profess to believe in a God of 
justice, and yet you tell us, that he will inflict an infi- 
nite punishment for a crime to which it can bear not 
the least imaginable proportion. You profess to believe 
in a God of wisdom and power, and yet the plan of 
his government was so unwisely contrived, that it 
involves an infinite evil, which God has no power to 
prevent. He is wise and powerful indeed; but the 
adversary by his superior tact or power carries away in 
triumph the greater part of his children, /adore the 
God of nature. I see his power in the stars that glitter 
in the firmament above ! I read his wisdom in the 
movements of the mighty machine of the universe ! I 
behold his goodness in the beams of the sun, and in 
the gently falling shower, and I trace the footsteps of 
his justice in the history of man. But your Bible, that 
changes power into tyranny, wisdom into folly, good- 
ness into partiality, and that stains the altar of justice 



142 



DIVINE PROMISES. 



with the acts of cruelty ; was never written by that 
hand which wrote great nature's volume, nor came it 
down from him. Thus reasons the sceptic, and I have 
no fault to find with this reasoning, for I seriously believe 
that neither ingenuity nor sophistry can evade the force 
of the conclusion if the premises are granted. The 
reasoning is good, its premises only are in fault. It is 
not true, as the argument supposes, that these doctrines 
are taught in the Bible : and hence the argument 
touches not Christianity. I am perfectly satisfied that 
these doctrines can never be defended as coming from 
God. They have long borne with a mountain's weight 
upon the cause of Christ. In my judgment they have 
done more to advance the cause of infidelity, than 
the united efforts of every infidel, that ever lived. 
The eloquence of Hume, and the caustic lightnings 
of Voltaire, are harmless in the comparison ; and de- 
pend upon it, unless they are purged out of the church, 
Christianity, with all that is joyful in its hopes or glo- 
rious in its promises, must struggle on with difficulties 
that have long retarded its progress. They are forge- 
ries in the name of Christ, and all the eloquence of 
Cicero or Demosthenes could not establish their claim 
to a common origin, with those " lectures of heavenly 
wisdom" read by the stars and repeated by the earth. 
When therefore I stand before you and after my feeble 
manner plead for the truth of Christianity, I wish to be 
understood. I am not pleading for a system of spiritual 
murder and cruelty. I plead not for the endless suffer- 
ing of my fellow-creatures, for I could not plead in such 
a cause. Do not expect me to defend these sentiments, 
nor think that Christianity cannot be defended because 
these are disproved. Let the infidel understand, that 
in contending with these for the gospel of Christ, he is 



DIVINE PROMISES. 



143 



as one that beateth the air. He may raze them every 
one to the foundation, and yet he has not touched one 
stone in the temple of Christ, nor offered an argument 
against his teachings. I speak with much confidence 
here, for I feel that I stand upon a rock, and I should be 
recreant to duty if I did not labour to wipe this darkest, 
foulest stain from the fair face of the Lord's anointed. 
I say then emphatically, that those who have been la- 
bouring to unite these sentiments with Christianity, 
have been striving (and I wot that it was through igno- 
rance that they have done it) to bring about an unholy 
union between Christ and Belial, with whom he has no 
concord. I say then go on, and destroy this monster 
of error. Let him die the death, and when his un- 
seemly carcase is lowered into the earth, I will stand 
over the grave and will pray that no fiend from the in- 
fernal pit may sound his resurrection trumpet. But 
think not that Christianity would die with it, or even 
clothe itself in sackcloth on this account. Nay, but 
purified from its deepest corruptions, and relieved from 
a body of sin and death, that has borne it down and 
wasted its strength, and crippled its power, it would 
arise in its beauty and go forth to renewed and more 
glorious conquests. 

It will now be distinctly understood that in defend- 
ing the Bible I have nothing to do with its corruptions. 
The doctrine of the resurrection therein taught is plain 
and simple. " As in Adam all die, even so in Christ 
shall all be made alive," is a precious promise which 
guaranties the resurrection of all men from the dead. 
In regard to the state or condition of men in the resur- 
rection, the Scriptures do not like the systems of men 
descend to particulars. The Saviour says, that they 
"shall be as the angels of God which are in heaven." 



144 



DIVINE PROMISES, 



Paul says, they shall "all be changed, in a moment, in 
the twinkling of an eye ; this mortal shall put on im- 
mortality, and this corruptible shall put on incorrup- 
tion." These are the " exceeding great and precious 
promises," for the reasonableness, truth, and propriety 
of which I contend. This is Christianity as it came 
from its author ; and these are the principles at which 
infidelity should direct its weapons, if it would assail 
the gospel of Christ. I maintain, that there is nothing 
in these promises inconsistent with the character of a 
God of infinite power, all-knowing wisdom, unbounded 
goodness, and impartial justice. On the contrary, they 
are such promises as such a God would be likely to 
make. The very idea that such a God would exert his 
attributes in the creation of man, and in enduing him 
with all his astonishing powers, capable of infinite im- 
provement, merely to live a few days on earth and then 
fall into the gulf of oblivion, before he has arrived at 
half the perfection of which he is capable ; looks to me 
rather of a doubtful character. Here is man, created a 
rational intelligent being, with desires reaching after 
immortality, and with powers capable of rising to higher 
and yet higher degrees of perfection. He feeds upon 
the bounty of God for a few years and the fell de- 
stroyer comes to demand his vital breath. He clings 
to life with an undying grasp, and calls upon God for 
a blessing ; but the heavens are brass, the treasures of 
divine goodness are exhausted, and God himself has 
not another good to grant. The stern mandate goes 
forth, and man who bears the image of his Maker, with 
all his exalted powers, falls beneath the dark waves of 
oblivion's sluggish stream, and lives no more for ever. 
Do not talk to me of infinite goodness in God with such 
a prospect before me. Unless the goodness of God is 



DIVINE PROMISES. 145 

bounded by life's contracted span, we may hope for 
blessings beyond the Jordan of death. I do not say 
that the attributes of God are able to give positive proof 
of the doctrine of the resurrection, but I do say, that 
they afford a presumptive argument in its favour. If 
there is a God of power, wisdom and goodness, we may 
reasonably trust in a resurrection. Take the doctrine 
of the resurrection of all men from the dead to immor- 
tal felicity, and the doctrine of death an endless sleep ; 
lay them along side of the character of God as revealed 
in Scripture, and taught in nature, and you need not be 
long in deciding which is most consistent with that 
character. The promise of life and immortality looks 
like the promise of God, and once admit his existence 
and no man can disprove it. This subject will be con- 
tinued in my next lecture, and for the present I dismiss 
it, praying, that wisdom from above may be our guide 
to the temple of truth. 

13 



DISCOURSE IX. 



RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should 
raise the dead 1 Acts xxvi. S. 

In my last discourse I had under consideration the 
promises of God which relate to the future, and endeav- 
oured to show their harmony with the divine character 
as presented in the Bihle and taught in nature and prov- 
idence. I alluded particularly to the promise of a 
resurrection to immortal life and felicity, as the chief 
among all the promises, and endeavoured to show that 
it was such a promise as we might reasonably expect 
from a God of all wisdom, power and goodness. I said 
that I would on the present occasion, enter further into 
an examination of this doctrine. The text I have se- 
lected will give vou an idea of the view I intend taking 
of the subject in this lecture. I purpose merely to in- 
quire into the credibility or incredibility of the doctrine 
itself, without agitating particularly the positive evi- 
dence by which it is sustained. 

There are many in this day who consider the account 
of the resurrection of Christ to be entirely fabulous; 
and the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, utterly 
incredible. Man dies, and his body moulders back to 
its native dust, and that God should ever raise him 
from the dead, they regard too incredible to be believed. 
To this point your attention is invited in this discourse. 
Looking at the subject with the eye of reason, I shall 



RESURRECTION CF THE DEAD, 147 

endeavour to show you that there is nothing in the 
doctrine which renders it a thing incredible. I am the 
more inclined to take this view of the subject, because 
I am persuaded that this idea of the incredibility of the 
doctrine is the cause of more scepticism in relation to 
it, than any lack of evidence in its favour. Most of 
those who have rejected the doctrine of the resurrec- 
tion, have done it, not so much from a conviction that 
the evidence in its favour is insufficient to establish the 
truth of an ordinary event, as from a supposition that 
it is in its very nature incredible. Now while this con- 
viction remains, arguments are of but little use, for no 
amount of evidence can convince a man that an impos- 
sibility is true. You will therefore perceive, that the 
work before us at this time, is not positively to prove 
the doctrine, but the settlement of a previous question, 
in regard to the amount of evidence necessary for its 
proof. I shall attempt to show that it involves nothing 
impossible, or incredible, and hence it is to be believed 
upon the same amount of evidence that would be re- 
quired to establish any other important doctrine. I 
remark 

L The doctrine involves no impossibility. 

Looking at the subject, not particularly as a Chris- 
tian, but in the light of reason, I contend that the resur- 
rection of the dead is not impossible. The argument 
by which I sustain the position is simply this : Man 
does now exist, and as he is not necessarily self-exist- 
ent, he is the production of some power, and I main- 
tain that the same cause which was adequate to the 
creation of man at first, is also adequate to his resur- 
rection from the dead. I care not, so far as the validity 
of the argument is concerned, to what cause you ascribe 
the present existence of man. Whether he originated 



148 



RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 



in mere chance, or is the effect of the laws of matter^ 
or came from the hand of a wise and powerful Creator ; 
in either case, the cause which first brought him into 
existence, is adequate to his resurrection. If he came 
into existence by chance, then there is nothing incred- 
ible in the supposition that some lucky chance may 
raise him from the dead. If the operation of the laws 
of matter made man what he is, then I contend that 
there is nothing impossible, or even incredible in the 
supposition that these laws will make him what the 
Bible says he shall be in the resurrection. If I can 
believe that matter operated upon by nothing save its 
own inherent powers could move and arrange itself in 
such a manner as to make man at first, then am I also 
prepared to believe that the same cause can gather to- 
gether the fragments that death and corruption leave, 
and reorganize man in a resurrection from the dead. If 
the latter is a miracle the former is a still greater mir- 
acle. I ask any reasonable man to look at matter, on 
the one hand, slumbering in chaos or floating at random, 
obedient only to its elementary laws, without form and 
void ; and on the other, to look at a sleeping corpse, 
and tell me which he would select as the easiest sub- 
ject from which to make a living man % Judging from 
the soundest principles of reasoning, we should come 
to the conclusion that it would require a less effort of 
power and wisdom to reanimate that corpse than it 
would to mould and animate a man from the dust of the 
earth. The latter of these has been done by some 
power, and as what has been done may be again, so I 
maintain that the former involves no impossibility. We 
all know that we do exist, as the effect of some cause ; 
and with the same certainty we know, that a stream 
cannot rise higher than the fountain, or an effect be 



RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 



149 



superior to its cause ; we may also know, that man, 
whether he walk the earth or sleep in the grave, 
whether living or dead, in time or in eternity, cannot 
rise superior to the control of that cause in which he 
originated. So then, even the atheist himself cannot 
affirm that it is impossible for man to rise from the 
dead, for he knows, and you know, that greater won- 
ders than that have occurred in the universe. Even the 
common subterfuge of a progression in the scale of be- 
ing which refers the origin of man not immediately to 
any one cause, but to an infinite series of causes and 
effects, will not evade the point of the argument. I 
have before alluded to this theory, and attempted to 
show that it is a bare hypothesis, destitute alike of 
foundation in philosophy or fact ; and I now remark, 
that even if it were true, it would not answer the pur- 
pose to which it is here applied. If you contend that 
man has progressed through the different grades of be- 
ing, from those that are but one remove from inanimate 
matter, up to his present state ; how dare you affirm 
that he has now come to a full stand, or that the pro- 
gressive work will cease when his head is laid in the 
grave ? How dare you affirm that a purer and more 
exalted existence may not rise from the ashes of the 
dead, as the butterfly does from the worm, and thus the 
progressive work go on, bearing man onward and up- 
ward, till he shall ripen in glory and shine in the gar 
ments of immortality ? Upon your own ground, the 
thing is not impossible, and in view of the mighty prog- 
ress already made, it cannot be considered even in- 
credible. But I will not dwell longer upon this argu- 
ment. I point you to the fact that man does now exist, 
and I say that his present existence is as great a miracle 
as would be his resurrection from the dead, and as the 
13* 



150 



RESURRECTION OF THE t>EA0 £ 



one has been done, there is nothing impossible in trig 
doctrine that the other will be done also * 

I have said that even the atheist could not deny the 
possibility of the resurrection of the dead. But admit 
the existence of a God and the question is placed be- 
yond all controversy. That the same God who created 
heaven and earth and all that dwell therein, could, if he 
were so disposed, raise man from the dead, there can 
be no doubt. You have only to look at what God has 
done in order to see this subject in its proper light. 
Time was, if time it may be called, when the earth was 
without form and void. The moon and the stars hung 
not in heaven, and the fires of the sun were not yet 
kindled. Darkness lay upon the face of broad and deep 
chaos, and the embryo of man's existence had not be- 
gun. It was the spirit of the Lord Almighty that 
moved forth upon the dark waters and roused this uni- 
verse into life, and infused order and harmony through 
all its parts. He moulded the earth in the hollow of 
his hand, and launched it from his throne to pursue its 
way for ever. He kindled the fires of the sun and bur- 
nished the face of the moon, and garnished the heavens 
with stars. His voice called man into existence, and 
his spirit breathed life and activity through the earthy 
peopling the solitary places with every living thing. 
These things God has done, and who shall limit the 
workings of his power 1 Say, is the arm of the Lord 
Omnipotent shortened, that it cannot save ? Is his 
power crippled, that it cannot work ? Shall the narrow 
grave rear a barrier full and impassable before him, or 
shall death wrest his creatures from the compass of his 
power? Will you plant yourself upon the line of the 
tomb, and say to the waves of the river of life flowing 



* See note K, 



REStlMECTlON OP THE DEAD. 



151 



from God above, " Thus far shalt thou go and no far- 
ther Presumptuous man ! It was possible for God 
to create thee at first, and it is possible for him to raise 
thee from the dead ; and these trophies of his divinity 
should teach thee to be modest in saying that any work, 
however great, is too much for him to perform. Thus 
far we may proceed with safety, and pronounce with a 
good degree of certainty, that there is nothing in the 
Scripture doctrine of the resurrection which renders it 
absolutely impossible. It may therefore be believed 
upon proper testimony* 

IL I proceed to show that the promise of a resurrec- 
tion held forth in the Bible is not only possible, but it so 
perfectly accords with the character of God, and the 
known and established principles of his government^ 
that its fulfilment is a credible and even probable event* 

In this department of my subject I have nothing to 
do with those who deny the existence of a God. I 
speak to those who acknowledge the existence of a wise 
and intelligent Creator; and yet deem the doctrine of 
the resurrection incredible* One of the most fruitful 
causes of scepticism upon this subject is, the supposi- 
tion that it would involve too great a stretch of conde- 
scension on the part of God* The sceptic is sometimes 
heard to say, that he can believe without difficulty in 
a God who is employed in regulating worlds, and sys- 
tems of worlds, because this is a work which from its 
magnitude, would seem befitting the character of a be- 
ing possessed of infinite power and wisdom. But that 
a being so great, should stoop from his high and ex- 
alted throne, to raise up from the dead such humble 
and puny worms as we are, is to him incredible in a 
high degree. 

To this it is sufficient to reply, that God did create 



152 RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

man at first ; but who ever thought it beneath his dig- 
nity to be engaged in making such worthless worms as 
we are? It would take but a moment's reflection to 
satisfy any man that God has made apparently much 
less important creatures than man. It was not incon- 
sistent with the glory and dignity of the Holy One to 
create even the creeping things of the earth. It was 
not inconsistent with the nature and character of God, 
to put forth his power in the beginning, and make man 
from the dust of the earth; and I can see no good rea- 
son why he might not raise him from the dead without 
any degradation of his character. If the existence of 
man on earth in this low and corrupted estate was an 
object sufficiently valuable to call into exercise the 
power of God, how is it that his re-creation in a higher 
and holier sphere must be deemed too small a work 
for him. The object in raising men from the dead is 
as much higher than the object in his formation from 
the dust, as an immortal existence is more exalted and 
durable than the present life. If God has done the one, 
then why should it be thought a thing incredible that 
he should do the other also ? 

A consideration of the character of God and the es- 
ablished principles of his government will present the 
credibility of this doctrine in a still stronger light. I 
have already noticed its harmony with the divine char- 
acter, and shown that his power, and wisdom, and 
goodness, all favour the idea, that he will raise man up 
from the dead, and it ought to induce us to listen with 
an attentive and favourable ear, to any evidence that 
he will fulfil his promise to that effect. There is noth- 
ing incredible in the supposition that a wise, powerful 
and good father will take care of his children. There 
is no good too great for a God of infinite goodness to 



Resurrection of the dead. 153 



bestow, and all that we have seen of the abundant 
manifestations of his love, warns us to beware of in- 
credulity, in regard to the future manifestations of 
that same boundless love. There is, to my mind, 
nothing incredible in the supposition, that such a God 
as is presented in nature, and revealed in the Bible, 
should raise man up from the dead, and make him the 
immortal recipient of his benefactions. To such a 
doctrine the experience of the past, and the exhibition 
of his benevolence, all strongly tend. I need not how- 
ever repeat the argument upon this subject. I pass on, 
to compare the doctrine of the resurrection with one of 
the most strongly -marked and clearly-defined principles 
of the divine government. I allude to the circumstance 
that God has provided for all the wants of his creatures, 
in that sphere in which he has placed them. Through- 
out all the immensity of creation, there is an invariable 
fitness of things, an adaptation of one thing to another, 
which pervades the whole. This principle is clearly- 
developed in the animal economy. Each grade and 
tribe is fitted to its sphere, and finds in that sphere the 
necessary means for the satisfaction of all its wants. 
As an instance in point : the wants of the lion and the 
tiger are supplied in the solitudes of the desert, and there 
is not the least evidence, that either of them has any 
desire to quit his native haunts, and mingle with the 
crowds of the populous city. The wants of the fish 
are supplied in the water, and there is no evidence, that 
he desires to leave his native element and live upon 
the dry land, nor can we imagine any appetite or desire 
of the fish, which may not be satisfied with the means 
that the waters furnish. The same may be said of 
every animal. You cannot point to one and say, here 
is a desire or an appetite, for the gratification of which 



154 



RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 



God has not provided abundant means. Here then 
you see the principle. In all cases God has adapted 
means to ends ; and wherever you find in any animal 
a desire or appetite, you will find the means for its 
gratification, and in no instance can you find an appetite 
or desire for any thing that does not exist. To this I 
aver, you cannot find an exception in the universe of 
God. The wants of the beast and bird, fish and insect, 
are supplied in their appropriate spheres of life, and 
bounded by their native elements, and in no case do 
they overstep these bounds. But how is it with man? 
Are his wants and desires bounded by earth's narrow 
limits ? Has he no desires reaching beyond this fleet- 
ing life ? You know the answer that truth must give 
to these questions, 

ct The soul uneasy and confined from home. 
Rests and expatiates in a world to come." 

In the midst of all the earth can give, the mind of 
man pants for purer and more undisturbed rills of bliss. 
God has given to every human being, a deep-rooted, 
ardent and everlasting desire of life and immortality. 
Go where you will, and wherever you find a human 
being with countenance erect, bearing the impress of 
his Maker's hand, there you will find this deep and 
ardent desire, impelling man onward, and bearing him 
upward to endless life. Why then should it be thought 
a thing incredible, that God should raise the dead? He 
has left no desires of the beast without the means of 
gratification, nor given in any case an appetite for 
aught that does not exist. In all creation around us 
this principle is discovered. Why should man be an 
exception? Why should it be thought, that man the 
last and noblest work of God, has been cursed with 



RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 155 

desires which his Creator never intended to gratify? 
desires which keep him all his life long, in the eager 
chase of an " ignis-fatuus. that leads to bewilder and 
dazzles to blind ?" In the name of reason, why should 
a God of goodness be supposed thus to tantalize his 
creatures'? In the name of all that is consistent, I ask, 
why shall it be said, that God has first chained man 
down to earth, and then cursed him with desires rush- 
ing into the skies ? Without the doctrine of future life, 
no man can account for those desires for life and im- 
mortality which God has planted deep in every human 
soul, unless he at the same time charges God with a 
departure from a rule of his government, which holds 
good in all other beings. Neither can any one tell why 
man alone of all God's creatures, should look beyond 
the grave, and pant with anxious solicitude for a dwel- 
ling there. But give me this doctrine, and I can ex- 
plain the whole mystery, and clearly see that God 
works by rules, that know no abatement. When he 
gave man a desire of life and immortality, it was not 
to tantalize him, but it was with the benevolent design 
of giving him here a foretaste, and ultimately of be- 
stowing the blessing. With this view of the subject, 
it is no longer a matter of wonder, that man looks for- 
ward and upward to heaven and immortality, for his 
home and his Father are there. But if this doctrine is 
not true, then God has in many instances violated a 
rule, that he has observed in the case of every animal ; 
and the meanest reptile that grovels in the dust, holds 
the tenure of its existence upon better terms than he. 
The beast can live, and eat, and drink, and die, and no 
longings for immortality, nor disappointed hopes of 
futurity, nor dread of dark annihilation, are mingled 
in his cup of life. Death comes ; he struggles to avoid 



156 RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

the pain, but there is no evidence that he either hopeg 
or fears any thing beyond the veil. Now I say, if man 
had been destined in the counsels of God to die, and 
perish like the beast, it is but reasonable to suppose that 
he would have been made like him, in this respect. I 
do not say that considerations like these are to be re- 
ceived as positive proof of man's resurrection from the 
dead, but I do say, that they afford some presumptive 
evidence in favour of that doctrine, and they clearly 
prove, that it ought not to be looked upon as an incred- 
ible thing. I say, that no man who gives these con- 
siderations their due weight, is justified in rejecting 
the doctrine as an incredible story, without an exam- 
ination of its positive evidences. Whether there is 
sufficient evidence of the doctrine to warrant us in the 
belief, that it is positively true is reserved for further 
inquiry. All I now contend is, that looking at the 
doctrine abstracted from the evidences of a direct and 
positive character, by which it is supported, it is not 
incredible ; and I should say, that the following would 
be a fair illustration of the case. Here is a philosopher 
who has never heard of the resurrection of the dead. 
I go to him and say, Sir, death is not the end of man, 
for God will raise the dead to life and immortal joy. 
The idea is new to him, and he would if he were free 
from all bias be likely to reason after this manner. This 
is an important doctrine, and I will examine it. I know 
that man does exist, and that some power brought him 
into existence, and I cannot deny, that the same power 
which created him may raise him from the dead. I 
believe further there is a God of all wisdom power and 
goodness, and there can be no doubt that such a God 
can, if he pleases, raise the dead. Besides such an 
event would accord with all that I know of his character 



RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 157 

and government. I find myself possessed of strong" 
desires reaching after immortality, and I cannot see 
why God should give me these desires unless he meant 
to bestow the blessing. He then turns to me and says, 
Sir, I think it quite likely that doctrine of yours may 
be true. I see nothing impossible or incredible in it, 
and I am prepared to receive it upon sufficient testi- 
mony. What evidence have you that it is true? I 
reply : I was acquainted with a man, who professed to 
be sent of God to bear witness to the truth upon this 
subject. He taught this doctrine and wrought many 
miracles in confirmation of the divinity of his mission. 
'He said that he would himself rise from the dead, as 
an example to show that God could, and would raise 
man up from the grave. I was with him about three 
years daily and knew him well. His enemies finally 
put him to death, and on the third day he rose. I saw 
him after his resurrection, and my friends saw him, 
and I can now refer you to more than five hundred 
witnesses who also saw him and know that he rose. 
The wise man answers : If you can establish that fact 
I shall believe the doctrine. There is nothing impos- 
sible or extremely incredible about it. It may be true, 
and if these facts can be established, it must be so. 
Now this is precisely the kind of evidence which the 
Bible gives of the truth of its doctrine of the resurrec- 
tion. It informs us, that the Saviour taught this doctrine, 
and said that God should raise him up from the dead 
for its confirmation; and that he did actually rise ac- 
cording to his word. Whether this account be true or 
false, will be the theme of our next discourse. The 
labour of our present discourse thus far, will show you 
that it is not absolutely an incredible story, and that it 
should be believed upon the same kind and amount of 
14 



158 



RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 



evidence, that would be required to establish the truth 
of any other possible or probable event. Of the amount 
and force of this evidence you will hear more at an- 
other time. The question now before us is, " why 
should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that 
God should raise the dead." I return to that question. 

There is another ground upon which the doctrine of 
the resurrection is thought to be incredible. 

It is supposed by some, to be extremely improbable 
that Goa would reveal the doctrine even if it were true. 
In answer to this objection, it should be observed, that 
the doctrine of the resurrection, if communicated to 
man at all must, from the very nature of the case, come 
through the medium of a revelation from God. The 
character of God as seen in nature, and exhibited in 
the dispensations of his providence might indeed add 
an argument in favour of the doctrine, when once re- 
vealed, but it could not be deduced a priori from any 
principles of natural Theology, with sufficient clearness 
to answer a very valuable purpose. It will no doubt 
be admitted, that God could if he chose make such a 
revelation, and the question before us is, whether his 
character is such, that he would be likely to do so ? 

I hold it then as a fact, that all men desire a know- 
ledge of this truth, and that no man without it eaa 
arrive at the highest degree of happiness of which he is 
susceptible. Lay aside all hopes of life and immortality 
and man is comparatively a miserable being. He sees 
the night of death approaching, and he fears that it will 
be endless. He looks down into the deep vault of the 
grave, and shudders at its darkness, with no hope of 
release from its long and silent slumber. Under these 
circumstances, I hold it to be utterly impossible that 
any man can be as happy as he would be if he were 



RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 



159 



cheered with strong hope in a triumphant and glorious 
resurrection. 

It has indeed been said, that there is no need of look- 
ing to the future, and that it is no more to us what we 
shall be a thousand years hence, than what we were a 
thousand years ago. But sure I am, that such an asser- 
tion can proceed only from blind bigotry, or a deplorable 
ignorance of the laws and operations of the human 
mind. Every man who has paid even a small share 
of attention to the operations of his own mind, must 
know, that it is as utterly impossible for him to refrain 
from looking forward and hoping or fearing, as from 
looking backward and remembering the past. Nor are 
the wanderings of his mind bounded by the narrow 
limits of this life. We know we must die, but the in- 
quisitive eye pauses not at the grave. What awaits 
us beyond '? Shall we sleep in eternal silence there ? 
Or shall we live again? These are questions which 
force themselves upon the reflecting mind with a 
power that cannot be resisted, and upon their solu- 
tion depends much of our enjoyment. To illus- 
trate the point. Two men are about going a voyage 
at sea. They must both unavoidably look forward 
and calculate the probable success of the voyage. 
The one is animated with joyful hope. He believes 
that he shall reach his destined haven, and meet again 
his kindred and friends. The other is without hope. 
He expects no more to meet those friends with whom 
he parts, but feels certain that he shall find a watery 
grave. You may tell these men as much as you will, 
that there is no need of looking at the future, and yet 
it will be true, that one will go with a sorrowing and 
the other with a rejoicing heart. Let us drop the figure. 
Two men stand upon the shore of the boundless ocean 



160 



RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 



of eternity. They too must look forward and hope or 
fear. The one gazes, and before him all is darkness 
and perpetual night, without a star of hope to shine 
upon its dreadful gloom. He feels the frail system of 
nature sinking and tottering to its fall, and has no hope 
but that he shall feed the greedy worm and be no more. 
The other sees the dark waters of death rolling at his 
feet. He looks to the future, and a radiant beam of 
light shoots from the other side of Jordan like the night- 
fires of the sentinel, gleaming upon the storm-spent 
mariner who is tossed upon the mountain-wave. Glad 
hope revives the sinking spirit, and he joyfully sails for 
the land, " where the wicked cease from troubling, and 
the weary are at rest." Now I say, that a reasonable 
man need not be long in deciding which of these two 
men is the happiest. The peace of the one is as a 
river ; but the other is a prey to doubt and fear. From 
these remarks you will not fail to discover how neces- 
sary to human happiness is the doctrine of the resur- 
rection from the dead. I ask you to look around you 
and tell me, if you are able, of one thing so necessary 
for your enjoyment as this which God has left unpro- 
vided. I wish you to point out some instance where 
God has been thus careless of your happiness. Unless 
you can do this, I shall deem the presumption fair that 
he has been careful to provide for your wants in this 
respect, as he has in all others. It is for you to decide 
whether that good Father, who has been so careful to 
provide for your smallest wants, and whose ear is open 
to hear the young ravens when they cry, would be likely 
to forget or refuse to supply this, the highest and holiest 
desire of the mind. In my humble estimation, the 
goodness of God, manifested in so many ways and by 
such an endless variety of means, affords a strong pre- 



RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 



161 



Sumptive argument that he would reveal to man the 
doctrine of the resurrection, so important to his hap- 
piness. 

Look for one moment at the light in which a contrary 
supposition would present his character, If you should 
see a man watching the declining sun, and knew that 
he was without hope of ever seeing the light of another 
morning; if you possessed the least friendly feeling 
towards him, you would tell him that the sun should 
rise again in its glory, and he should see it and rejoice. 
But according to the notion now under consideration, 
here is man watching the sun of life fast declining. 
He believes it will set in everlasting night. The shades 
gather around him, and the poor sufferer has nought in 
prospect but the blackness of darkness for ever. God 
looks upon his woes without an eye to pity or an arm 
to save. One sunbeam from the throne of his glory 
would scatter the darkness and pour the light of im- 
mortal life into the afflicted soul, and yet God withholds 
it. One cup of water from the eternal fountain would 
give peace ; but though the poor mortal is fainting and 
dying, and the river of God is full of water, he will not 
bestow it. He has fully determined to raise man to 
immortal bliss, but though the whole race go mourning 
all their days for want of the information, he will not 
even tell them that such is his purpose. Depend upon 
it, my hearers, such is not the God of the Bible, nor yet 
the God of nature, and the ten thousand testimonies of 
his goodness with which we are surrounded, all re- 
proach the man who harbours such a faith with dishon- 
ourable views of his Father in heaven. If his children 
ask bread he will not give them a stone, or if they ask 
a fish he will not give them a serpent. The presump- 
tion most unquestionably is, that the same God who 
14* 



IG2 RSStTRREcTtON OF THE DEAD, 

giveth to the beast his food, will also hear the cries of 
his children and give them that bread which they need* 
When I reflect upon the rich comforts and joys that 
flow from the doctrine of life and immortality revealed 
in the gospel of Christ, with a grateful heart I am con- 
strained to thank God, that with me it is not a thing 
incredible, that he should raise the dead. 



DISCOURSE X. 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. 

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits 
of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came 
also the resurrection of the dead, For as in Adam all die, even so in 
Christ shall all be made alive. Cor. xv. 20-22. 

I propose in this discourse to prove the resurrection 
of Christ from the dead, a doctrine upon which all our 
hopes of future existence must rest for support. The 
nature of the evidence by which this fact is sustained^ 
is precisely the same as that of other circumstances 
which are said to have occurred in time past. It de- 
pends upon human testimony, and such other collateral, 
circumstances as the nature of the case may afford. 
That there was such a man as Christ, who lived about 
eighteen centuries ago, and that he was put to death, I 
shall take for granted. There is no man who lived so 
long since, the fact of whose existence, life and death, 
is sustained by such a mass of evidence ; and the man 
who can dispute this, ought also to dispute that there 
was any man living at that time. He may select whom 
he will, and I will engage to prove the life and death 
of Christ by more ample testimony than he can prove 
that any other individual lived in that day. It were 
useless then to spend time upon this point. That there 
was such a man who lived and was put to death and 
buried, I set down as a fact which comes to us attested 
by a mass of evidence which cannot be adduced in 



164 PROOFS OP THE RESURRECTION. 

favour of the existence of any other person in suck 
remote antiquity. He lived, and died, and was buried. 
What are the facts connected with his subsequent his- 
tory, shall be the question to which I now invite your 
attention. In answer to this question there are two 
different versions. 

1. The Jews said, that the disciples came and stole 
away his body, and 

2. The disciples said, that he rose from the dead and 
they saw him and conversed with him, and knew it 
was so. 

It is quite probable that one of these accounts is true ; 
for that a few fishermen could persuade people to be- 
lieve that he had risen from the dead, in the same city 
where his body was still sleeping in a sepulchre, which 
could have been visited at any time, we cannot believe. 
If the body of Christ could have been found, it would 
have settled the controversy about his resurrection at 
once. I therefore conclude that one or the other of 
these statements is true. Either the disciples stole 
away his body and secreted it, and then reported that 
he had risen, or it was true as they asserted, that he 
did rise. The argument before us shall be reduced to 
a single point. Which is the more reasonable in itself 
and supported by the most plain and palpable evidence ? 
We will examine and see. Both sides shall have a 
hearing, and you shall judge for yourselves. 

I. The disciples came and stole him away. This 
was the story of the soldiers who were placed to guard 
the tomb where he was laid. There are however sev- 
eral circumstances which serve to throw a deep shade 
of suspicion over their account. Some of these I shall 
name. 

1. The disciples were not in a proper frame of mind 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. 



165 



or in suitable circumstances to embark in such an en- 
terprise. It does not appear that any of them expected 
he would rise from the dead. They had followed him 
through the trials that awaited him while on earth, and 
trusted that he would redeem. They were perfectly 
well aware of the deep and inveterate hatred with 
which their countrymen regarded both him and his fol- 
lowers. They had relied upon his power to save, but 
their last hope in him expired when he breathed out his 
life upon the cross. Through fear of their enemies, 
they all forsook him when alive, and why should they 
cleave to him now that he was dead ? There is nothing 
to warrant the conclusion that they had the courage even 
if they had the disposition to steal him away. Peter 
was doubtless the boldest among them. He followed 
to the judgment hail, when others had left him and 
fled. But there his courage failed, and he denied his 
knowledge of the man. Now I ask, is it reasonable to 
suppose that these same men who fled from Jesus in 
dismay when living, would suddenly muster courage 
and risk their lives in an attempt to get possession of 
his corpse when dead ? Would Peter himself be likely 
to arouse and put his life in jeopardy in an attempt to 
steal from the well-guarded tomb the body of a man 
whom he had just sworn that he did not know ? The 
fact is, the disciples were sore afraid during his life, 
and while they believed in his power; and all the cir- 
cumstances unite in proving that instead of being in- 
spired with courage by his death, that event had no 
other effect but to deepen their despondency. There 
are no principles of human nature upon which we can 
account for the supposition that these timid disciples, 
with their leader taken from them, and themselves al- 
ready trembling with fear of their enemies, should sud- 



166 PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. 

denly awake and brave the power of opposition in an at- 
tempt to get the body of a man. a knowledge of whom they 
dare not avow while he was living. Suppose they had 
obtained possession of the body of Christ ; it would have 
done them no good, only to enable them to tell 7 a story 
which they knew to be false as perjury, and the declar- 
ation of which, they must have been well aware, would 
subject them to a fate similar to that of their Master. 
Certain I am, that the man who can believe that these 
same disciples who a few hours before, while Jesus was 
alive, fled from him with fear, and dare not confess that 
they even knew him, are now transformed into such 
intrepid men that they would dare the soldiers' spear 
for the purpose of procuring a dead body to lie about, 
knowing at the same time that the very falsehood they 
intended to tell would bring down upon their heads the 
sword of the persecutor, then reeking with the blood of 
their Master. Such a man ought to be the last to deny 
miracles, or say aught against sudden and miraculous 
conversions. 

2. It may be doubted whether these soldiers would 
be likely to sleep as comfortably as they professed, un- 
der their circumstances. 

Jesus had been among them as a teacher sent from 
God, and had told them that he would rise from the 
dead. It was no doubt on this account, that every pre- 
caution was taken to prevent his body from being taken 
away, lest in such a case it should be said that he had 
risen from the dead. The whole course of procedure 
in this case, discovers a deliberate determination to 
crush for ever the cause of Christ, and prevent any 
further spread of his doctrines. He is'carefully placed 
in a new sepulchre, which was hewn out of a rock, and 
could of course be entered in no other way but by the 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. 



167 



door. This was secured with a large stone, and sol- 
diers were set to guard it. It was also true, that these 
soldiers were subject to severe punishment for any neg- 
lect of duty. They were, moreover, superstitious, and 
would naturally feel themselves ill at ease under such 
circumstances. Now I contend, that a reasonable man 
will not readily believe, that a superstitious soldier, 
believing in all manner of supernatural beings,, watch- 
ing at the grave of a man who had promised to rise 
from the dead, and subjected to punishment for neglect 
of duty, would fall asleep, and sleep so soundly, that 
the disciples could come and roll away the huge stone 
from the door and take away the body of Jesus, without 
disturbing their repose. 

3. This story of the soldiers bears the mark of false- 
hood upon its very face. 

" The disciples came and took him away while we 
slept." If they were asleep all the while, how in the 
name of common sense did they know what had be- 
come of the body of Christ ? How happens it then that 
they are so positive the disciples came and stole him ? 
I confess I am unacquainted with any principle of rea- 
son or rule of justice, which will allow a man to testify 
to the particulars of an event which occurred when he 
was asleep. Those who reject the idea of the resur- 
rection of Christ, frequently make themselves merry 
with the credulity of Christians, who as they say, be- 
lieve without good evidence. If I felt so disposed, I 
might turn the tables upon them in this instance. Ask 
one of these careful men, who are so wonderfully afraid 
of receiving the testimony of others, what was done 
with the body of Christ, and it is ten to one if he does 
not tell you that the disciples secreted it, and then 
spread the story that he had risen from the dead. What 



168 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. 



is the evidence of all this ? Why there is the word 
of the soldiers who were on the spot, fast asleep^ when 
the theft was committed ! Surely, the man who will 
believe the evidence of a witness who testifies to an 
event which occurred when he was asleep, ought to be 
the last man to accuse others of credulity. Suppose 
for instance, that the resurrection of Christ rested upon 
such proof as this. Suppose the disciples had declared 
that Christ rose from the dead, and came into their 
dwellings and conversed with them, but they were 
asleep at the time ; who would have believed them ? 
Not one in Jerusalem. Yet the position of the sceptic 
rests precisely upon such evidence, and still he talks 
of the credulity of others ! I know not but the disciples 
went and took him away ; but one thing I do know ; 
there is not one particle of evidence that such was the 
fact. 

The supposition that he yet remained in the tomb is 
equally destitute of proof. The apostles commenced 
preaching in Jerusalem, the very place w r here their 
Master w r as crucified, and if he had still remained in 
the sepulchre it could have been proved, and those who 
taught his resurrection for ever confounded. This was 
not done, and as no stone was left unturned to prevent 
the spread of the gospel, we are authorized to conclude 
that it could not be done. Thus much I have said in 
relation to the story of the soldiers. I pass to notice 

II. The account given by the disciples. 

They asserted that he rose from the dead. They do 
not give this as a dream or a vision of sleep, nor yet as 
a vague conjecture; but they declared that they had 
seen and handled him, and they knew that it was so. 
I now come to notice the circumstances which have a 
bearing upon the credibility of this testimony. I remark 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. 



169 



1. The matter of the testimony involves nothing 
impossible, or absolutely incredible. 

It is certain that such an event might possibly happen 
under the government of God. It cannot be doubted 
that God could, if he saw fit, raise a man from the dead. 
Neither is there any thing improbable or incredible in 
the supposition that a wise and good Creator should 
resuscitate an individual for the purpose of inspiring 
the hearts of the children of men with a hope that 
should be to them as an anchor of the soul, both sure 
and steadfast. All the attributes of God, his power and 
wisdom, and aboye all his unbounded goodness, as far 
as they can have a bearing upon the question, are in 
favour of the alleged fact, that Christ rose from the dead 
to testify the truth of that religion which should give 
the richest cup of consolation that ever came down from 
God out of heaven. This I have shown in a former 
discourse, and I need not repeat the arguments on this 
occasion. 

2. The fact alleged by the disciples was one, in re- 
lation to which they could not be deceived. 

I am perfectly aware that the spirit of blind enthusi- 
asm or unthinking credulity will carry men far, and 
lead them to believe in almost any thing. But it could 
not have thus operated in the case of the disciples. 
They had been with Christ for years, in constant and 
familiar conversation, and may be supposed to have 
known him well. A stranger could not have assumed 
his character, and persuaded them that he was indeed 
the very Jesus with whom they had been so familiar. 
It was in the open light of day that they saw him, as 
they say, and they could not be deceived. They knew 
it was him. Besides, there is no evidence that the dis- 
ciples were particularly credulous. On the contrary, 1 
15 



170 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION, 



feel sure that no man can read the history of their in- 
tercourse with the Saviour without being satisfied that 
they were rather incredulous than otherwise. He fre- 
quently upbraided them with being slow of heart to 
believe, and it is certain that they resisted in many 
cases evidence that would be considered overwhelm- 
ing. They saw his miracles as their history says, with 
their own eyes, and yet they were cautious and fearful 
of believing. When he told them that he should go up 
to Jerusalem, and there be put to death, Peter even re- 
buked him to his face, and would not believe. Not- 
withstanding all they had seen of his power, their faith 
was far from being implicit in all his teachings. The 
same spirit of incredulity manifested itself on the occa- 
sion of his appearance to the eleven as they sat at meat, 
after his resurrection. Thomas would not even believe 
the evidence of his own sight, and it was not until he 
had thrust his hand into the wounded side, and felt the 
print of the nails in his hands, that his incredulity 
yielded, and he confessed his Lord. All this does not 
look like a spirit of easy credulity, which is ready to 
believe any and every thing. From these considera- 
tions, I draw the conclusion, that these men were not 
deceived through too much credulity. They are not 
entitled to the charity of being honest but deluded men, 
for if the story of the resurrection was a forgery, it was 
one of their own coining, and they knew it to be so. 
They either told the truth or they were downright im- 
postors, for I repeat, it was impossible that they should 
be deceived. True they were unlearned, and if you 
please ignorant men, but they had eyes and ears, and 
they were neither asleep, nor blind, nor dumb, nor in 
any way incapacitated from knowing whether a man 
were dead or alive. They could tell with as little lia- 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. 



171 



bility to mistake as the wisest philosopher that ever 
lived, whether they had stolen the body of Christ, or it 
was in fact him, that they saw and handled. If he did 
not indeed rise, then they knowingly and deliberately 
combined to impose this falsehood upon their fellows ; 
and with the most obstinate hardihood persisted in it 
with unanimity even when lingering upon the thresh- 
Iiold of eternity. This leads me to remark 

3. That the apostles are not justly chargeable with 
such wickedness. 

There is not only an entire lack of any evidence that 
they were capable of such iniquity, but there is much 
positive proof that they sustained a far different char- 
acter. The purity of their lives, the integrity, upright- 
ness and propriety of their moral deportment, I have 
not heard questioned ; and so far as the voice of history 
can be heard in regard to their conduct as men and as 
citizens, there is much to admire and nought to con- 
demn. They lived peaceably with all men, and even 
bound themselves to injure no man's person or property. 
They constantly exercised a kind and forgiving spirit, 
and even prayed for the welfare of their most bitter 
enemies. That such men as these should combine and 
tell a downright falsehood, and persist in it even to 
death, merely for the purpose of building up the cause 
of a man that they knew to be an impostor, is not cred- 
ible, and I contend that common justice should hold 
them guiltless of such a charge until it is proved against 
them. 

The course they pursued in the propagation of this 
doctrine of the resurrection, evinces any thing else, 
rather than craft or a desire to deceive. They sought 
no concealment and shunned no investigation. They 
jtaught boldly in the synagogues, and in all their con- 



172 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. 



duct there is none of that cunning management and art, 
which always characterizes those who are engaged in an 
attempt to deceive. There was no covert or underhanded 
manoeuvering to enlist in their favour the arm of state, 
or the names of the powerful and honourable of the 
earth, nor any adroit management to avoid coming in 
contact with their enemies. They had no secret con- 
claves, or nocturnal consultations for laying plans of 
deception, but with the utmost simplicity and apparent 
honesty, they preached the resurrection of the dead. 
They confronted their adversaries to the face and with 
all boldness declared that Christ was risen, in all places 
whithersoever they went. They commenced at Jeru- 
salem, the very place where Christ was crucified, and 
where the cheat, if it had been one, would have been 
discovered. Does this look like the conduct of men 
who have devised a fable and are endeavouring to 
deceive ? Surely not. If their account of the resur- 
rection was an invention or a fabrication, they knowing 
it to be such, would have been urged by policy, and a 
regard for safety, to go into some remote part of the 
country, and preach it until they had secured con- 
verts enough to strengthen their hands in the combat 
with their enemies. Of all places in the world Jeru- 
salem promised the least, and was for them the most 
forbidding and dangerous. There Christ had been 
known. There he had been put to death as a male- 
factor, and there was the cross upon which he hung, 
and the sepulchre in which he was buried. There too 
were the enemies that nailed him to the cross, still 
ready to butcher any one, who plead in his behalf, and 
there were the soldiers, that guarded his tomb. If the 
account of the resurrection was false, I can conceive 
of no more consummate folly, than for the disciples to 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. 



173 



commence its relation in that place. Yet there it was 
that they began. Yes, in this very Jerusalem, the 
theatre of action, the citadel of all opposition, they 
commenced to preach Jesus and the resurrection. Does 
this look like the work of deceivers? Or is this the 
manner in which impostors usually proceed? No. It 
bears the impress of honesty, and no man can account 
for their mode of procedure in this case, but upon the 
supposition, that they believed what they said. And 
if they believed it, then it was true, for deception in 
this case, was altogether out of the question. 

4. The success that attended their testimony, is evi- 
dence that it was true. 

It was but a short time after the crucifixion, that thou- 
sands could be found in Jerusalem who were believers 
in his resurrection. Had this been some speculative 
doctrine, it would not be difficult to see, how the people 
could be induced to believe, however so extravagant 
or absurd. But this was not the case. It was a ques- 
tion relating to a simple matter of fact, which was said 
to have occurred forty days before, in their very midst. 
The simplest among them had every means of knowing 
whether it was true or false, Is it possible, that three 
thousand people in the city of Jerusalem, could have 
been made to believe, that a man who was crucified only 
forty days before, had risen from the dead, when it was 
nought but an idle tale ? Do you suppose that twelve 
men could have conspired and devised a story that the 
notorious Strang, who was executed in this city, had 
risen from the dead, and circulated it with success in 
this place? Could they have come in here immediate- 
ly after his execution, and convinced three thousand 
of our citizens, that he was alive, when the fact was, 
that his remains were among us? Such a case is not 
15* 



174 



PROOFS OP THE RESURRECTION. 



supposable, and if such a thing had been attempted, 
this would have been the last place for making people 
believe the story. Yet in Jerusalem the people had all 
necessary means for knowing whether the account of 
the resurrection were true or false. But there the word 
grew, and believers multiplied. Yes. even there, where 
forty days before the streets resounded with the crv. 
crucify him ! crucify him ! did the disciples preach, and 
the people believe. There, under the brow of Calvary, 
where Christ had bled and died, with the sepulchre of 
Joseph before them, and the spear of the soldier yet 
dripping with his blood, they openly declared that he 
had risen from the dead, and three thousand were con- 
vinced in one day ! Allow me to ask, how will you 
account for these things, but upon the supposition that 
they uttered truth which could not be gainsayed ? 
The prejudices of the people were strong and inveterate 
against them ; and if Christ was an imposter, and his 
resurrection a fable, why did they not discover and 
expose the cheat ? There was the cross, the tomb, the 
soldiers and the people who had known him 1 Vvhy 
did they not go to the tomb and show the multitude, 
that he had not risen ? Wnere was Judas the traitor, 
that he did not come forward and expose the plot 1 
Alas ! he confessed, that he had betrayed innocent 
blood, and in despair took his life. 

5. I remark, that there were no sufficient inducements 
for the disciples to propagate this story, if they had not 
known it to be true. 

It could not have been an expectation of worldly 
honour, or emolument, that induced them to preach 
Christ or the resurrection; for all these considerations 
were in the opposite scale. They had seen the spirit 
of deep animosity, and bloody persecution at work in 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. 



175 



the hearts of their countrymen. They knew that prej- 
udice was inveterate against Christ and his religion, 
and they had nothing to expect but that the same spirit 
of hatred which nailed him to the cross would stir up the 
people against them; and no human foresight could 
promise them more than the ignominious death of their 
master. They knew, that the power, and wisdom, and 
wealth, and honour of the world were all arrayed in one 
solid phalanx against them, and they had every possible 
reason to expect, that buffe tings, and revilings, bonds 
and imprisonment, persecution and death, would be their 
portion. If these things were sufficiently desirable to 
call out their exertions, then was there a motive for 
them to persevere. Did they wish for honour ? They 
might have gained it by renouncing the Nazarene and 
exposing the plans of deception that were laid ? Did 
they wish for ease ? They might have had it in the 
profession of the popular religion of the day. Did they 
thirst for gold ? Behold the bribe was already in the 
hand of the crafty enemy. Here were opportunities 
for advancing their own personal interest, incomparably 
greater than any thing they could expect to gain in the 
course they pursued. Even if we allow that they hoped 
for honour or profit in the outset, they must have been 
dull indeed, if one short year had not taught them how 
vain and futile were all such expectations. How happens 
it then, that they did not abandon the project when these 
hopes were cut orl? How happens it, that they continu- 
ed with their last dying breath to declare the truth of the 
resurrection from the dead ? They met persecution in 
its worst forms, in consequence of what they asserted, 
and yet not one of them betrayed the least imaginable 
disposition to retract. I know that every system can 
boast of its martyrs, but they were martyrs in a differ- 



176 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION.- 



ent sense from the apostles. I can easily imagine how 
a man, believing in any creed, however absurd, can 
cherish it so deeply, as to lay down his life in its de- 
fence. But the apostles were not martyrs to opinion 
merely. It was a question of facts. They did not 
proclaim the resurrection of Christ as an opinion or 
theory of theirs. They said they knew it. They saw 
and conversed with him, and even handled and knevs 
it was him. They were not deceived, and if the story 
was false it was a fabrication of their own. I have no 
doubt that men could suffer as much as these men suf- 
fered, in defence of an honest opinion, but. it is not in 
human nature to subject one's self to such sufferings for 
the purpose of testifying to a falsehood. They left all, 
became outcasts from society, endured sufferings intense 
as nature could bear, and finally laid down their lives 
in the midst of extreme tortures, without betraying any 
disposition to retract — and all this for what ? Why, 
if it was not so : for the simple pleasure of repeating 
a barefaced and deliberate falsehood ! I grant that 
martyrdom is not proof of the truth of any system, but 
it is proof of the sincerity of its professor, and in this 
case, if there was one particle of sincerity in the disci- 
ples their testimony was true ; for they could not be 
honestly deceived. I contend if there was ever a set 
of men on earth who gave evidence of sincerity and 
honesty, these were the men, and if they were honest 
the resurrection of Christ is true. 

There is yet one more circumstance to be noticed, 
and I shall leave this part of my subject. I allude to 
the fact, that notwithstanding the resurrection of Christ 
constitutes the basis of the Christian religion, and was 
uniformly insisted upon by the apostles as the great 
miracle with which this religion must stand or fall, yet 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. 



177 



no efforts were made by the enemies of Christ to dis- 
prove it, correspondent to its vast importance. To 
have shown that the resurrection of Christ was a fraud, 
would have been to explode Christianity. This St. 
Paul frankly acknowledged : " If Christ be not risen, 
then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." 
That is, if the resurrection of Christ is untrue, the 
Christian religion is untrue likewise, and preaching and 
faith equally preposterous and vain. Why then, I ask, 
did not the early enemies of Christianity put forth their 
exertions to disprove this alleged miracle and fact? 
Was not the Jewish Sanhedrim, through whose influ- 
ence Jesus was crucified, very nearly concerned in this 
work ? Had it not every motive which conscience, a 
love of public respect, and a hope for the approbation 
of God could minister, to engage heart and hand in this 
important labour'? Could it have proved that Jesus 
nad not been raised from the dead, — that his body had 
been stolen from the sepulchre notwithstanding the 
Roman guard, the great stone and the seal — it would 
have demonstrated him to have been an imposter, his 
death the just punishment of his villany, and the San- 
hedrim itself justified by God and man in procuring 
that death. And yet that Sanhedrim was accused by 
the apostles to its very face, of having crucified and 
slain Jesus, c: the Just One," f the Prince of life, whom 
God hath raised from the dead." Why, I ask again, 
was not this accusation repelled and disproved — why 
but that the Sanhedrim, whether it believed in the 
resurrection or not, was fully conscious that it could 
not be disproved, and that every effort to that end would 
only result in establishing the fact so prejudicial to 
their interests and schemes ? Nothing but this convic- 
tion on the minds of the opposing Jews can account 



178 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. 



for their conduct. Then was the time to show, if it 
could he shown, that the resurrection of Jesus was a 
fraud. And it is utterly in credible that the only op- 
portunity for accomplishing this work, so important to 
those immediately concerned, would have been suffered 
to pass unimproved. That it did pass unimproved is 
notorious, and hence I am constrained to believe that 
the truth of the resurrection of Jesus could not be suc- 
cessfully controverted, even in the very day and very 
place where that event transpired : if not then and there, 
the task under vastly less favourable circumstances is 
for ever hopeless. Was it indeed reserved for the wise 
men of this day to detect a fraud which eluded the 
vigilance of the most eagle-eyed enemies on the spot, 
and whose interest it was to expose the deception in 
order to shield themselves ? But here I pause. I say 
nothing of the five hundred witnesses who were alive 
in Paul's day to bear testimony that they saw Christ 
after his resurrection with their own eyes, and knew 
he had risen. You have in the first place a strong 
probability in favour of the fact itself, drawn from the 
acknowledged attributes of God, and the known prin- 
ciples of his government, all bearing in favour of such 
an exhibition of his goodness. And then, you have 
the testimony of a body of men who uniformly asserted 
the fact of the resurrection as a matter of positive 
knowledge with them, and that too, with no earthly 
prospect, but that persecution and death would be the 
consequence. In addition to this, you have the spread 
of the sentiment in the very city where the event is 
said to have occurred, and the virtual concessions of 
enemies who lived near the time ; besides the rise of 
Christianity and the observance of the first day of the 
week in commemoration of the event, all proving this 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. 



179 



one point. I feel justified in saying, that it is an amount 
of evidence, which in any other case, would be deemed 
absolutely irresistible, such indeed as cannot be adduced 
in favour of any other event in all antiquity. 

The question now arises, what evidence does the re- 
surrection of Christ afford of the resurrection of others ? 
I answer, it proves the divinity of his mission, and 
establishes the heavenly origin of his doctrine. He 
taught the resurrection from the dead, and foretold that 
he would descend into the grave, and rise as an earnest 
of that immortal inheritance, which is reserved for the 
children of men. If I have shown that he did indeed 
rise according to his word, then it follows that he was 
no impostor, and that his teachings may be confidently 
believed, as emenating from that God who has power 
to raise from the dead. 

But the argument of the apostle is still more explicit. 
He points to Adam on the one hand, and to Christ on the 
other as respectively as the representatives of the hu- 
man race, and contends that, " as in Adam all die, even 
so in Christ shall all be made alive." Therefore, the 
resurrection of Christ is as clear proof, that all men 
will rise from the dead, as is the death of Adam, that 
all men will die. Suppose we were called to prove 
that all must die. We should prove it by the force of 
example. We should point to Adam, the first man, as 
a specimen or example of human nature, and from the 
fact that he died, we should draw the conclusion that 
all his posterity must die also. The same kind of rea- 
soning will apply to the case in hand. Do you ask for 
proof that man shall rise from the dead? I give you 
an example. I point you to Christ as a specimen of 
that high and exalted destiny to which man is ap- 
pointed. He is our head, and as he rose, so shall we 



180 



PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION, 



rise also. In the first Adam you see human nature is 
its weakness, falling before the king of terrors ; in the 
second Adam who is Christ, you see humanity in its 
power, by the strength of the Lord conquering even 
death itself. Permit me then, to point you to him as 
the "corner-stone, tried and precious," which God has 
laid in Zion as the foundation of your hopes, for all the 
good things of life, and for the unborn glories of a 
happy immortality. Around his glorious head cluster 
all my expectations, and to him alone can I direct your 
attention, as a risen and exalted Redeemer, who is able 
to give you the victory over death and all its terrors. 
He will give you good hope and everlasting consola- 
tion through faith, and " raise you to life and to glory 
at last." 

Before I close this part of my subject, I beg leave to 
offer one remark for those who oppose the doctrine of 
the resurrection. You look around you and know, that 
faith in this doctrine makes some happy. You see the 
unfortunate cheered by it hopes, the aged and infirm 
on the verge of the grave supported by its spirit, and 
the dying pillow rendered soft and joyful by its power. 
I beseech you then in the name of mercy, take not this 
staff from the hand of the tottering veteran, unless you 
can give him a better. Destroy not this last refuge of 
the unfortunate, till you are prepared to offer a safer 
retreat. Dash not this last cup of consolation from the 
quivering lips of the dying, unless you are prepared to 
give a cordial more happifying. If you can give us 
any thing that will make us more happy in life or re- 
signed in our death, we will talk of an exchange. But 
until you are prepared to do this, I entreat you spare 
our hopes, and let us drink freely and copiously of the 
river of the water of life. 



DISCOURSE XI. 



THE EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 

Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the 
knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Philippians iii. 8. 

This discourse will be devoted to a consideration of 
the surpassing excellency of the gospel of Christ. The 
apostle counted the learning and wealth of the world 
but foolishness and dross, when brought into compari- 
son with the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord ; and 
it is the object of this discourse to show that he placed 
no more than its true and proper value upon the gospel. 
I take the broad ground that the Christianity is far su- 
perior to any system of religion or irreligion ever in- 
vented or propagated by the wisdom of this world. The 
utility of religion consists in its power to make men 
virtuous and happy, and that religion is the best which 
promotes these objects in the highest degree. The 
value of the gospel is conspicuously exhibited in the 
fact that its moral precepts and doctrinal teachings, 
harmonize in securing the highest happiness and most 
exalted virtue of the human race. I propose in this 
discourse to consider 

I. The superior excellency of the moral precepts of 
Christ. 

Here it should be remarked that the reader of the 
New Testament will not find therein, what would be 
called a regularly-digested and systematic code of moral 
16 



182 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL, 



laws. The author of our religion seems to have been 
perfectly well aware of the fact, that the great secret 
of making men virtuous, consists, not in laying before 
them rules and commands for the regulation of the 
hands, but in inculcating those immortal principles of 
truth which will purify the heart and regulate the spring 
of action. I must be allowed to illustrate this remark, 
for I deem it one of some importance. Here is a man 
that hates his neighbour. He is puffed up with pride 
and looks down with disdain upon his fellow and treats 
him with perfect contempt. Now it is of little use to 
command that man to love his neighbour and treat him 
kindly unless you accompany that command with some 
ins [ructions which are able to purge out the old leaven 
of hatred. But tell the man and stamp on his mind the 
full conviction that his neighbour is his brother, a child 
of the same God. and an heir of the same inheritance 
with himself, and then he will begin to "see through 
mercy's melting eye, a brother in a toe f and by that 
simple intelligence communicated to his understand- 
ing, you accomplish more than could be done by a code 
of laws, long as the Koran, even though they were 
sanctioned by all the thunders of mount Sinai. You 
have touched the heart, and having purified the foun- 
tain, the streams will of course be pure. This I appre- 
hend is the true reason why the teachings of the gospel 
partake so much of a doctrinal character, and why its 
specific directions for the conduct are so few. Its author 
knew that one principle of truth deeply fixed in the 
mind, would accomplish more than a thousand com- 
mands, however wise or just. Hence his commands 
are few; his rules for the regulation of the conduct 
general and always accompanied with the doctrinal 
principle upon which they were founded. He was not 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 



183 



satisfied when he had commanded his followers to love 
their enemies, but he went on and gave them along 
with the command a doctrine, which if they believed, 
would work in them obedience to that precept. He 
told them that in so doing, they would imitate the per- 
fections of that blessed God, who " maketh his sun to 
rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain upon 
the just and the unjust." Here was developed a prin- 
ciple of truth without which the command would have 
been powerless. On this account the moral code of the 
gospel is brief, and its precepts wide in their applica- 
tion, and general in their character. Forgiveness, for- 
bearance, mercy, compassion, justice, temperance, chas- 
tity and fidelity, are the most important duties embraced 
and enjoined in the Saviour's rules of life. Upon these 
precepts I remark, that they exhibit a knowledge of 
man's moral nature, and are adapted to it with a precis- 
ion that can be found in no other code of morals under 
heaven. In a former discourse I endeavoured to show 
that man's moral nature had its laws upon the healthful 
operation of which his happiness depended. Obedience 
to these laws is bliss, and disobedience is misery. There 
is a certain course of conduct which so perfectly accords 
with these laws that in pursuing it there is all joy and 
peace. There is another course, which is so much in 
opposition to them that a contrary effect is the result 
of its pursuit. Now the moral teachings of Christ draw 
the dividing line between these two courses of conduct 
with such unerring precision, that while on the one 
hand happiness is the invariable result of an observance 
of his precepts ; on the other, there is not one of them 
that can be violated without entailing misery upon the 
transgressor. I fearlessly challenge the spirit of rank- 
est infidelity to point out one of the precepts of Christ, 



184 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 



the observance of which will not increase human hap- 
piness ; or one that can be violated without detracting 
from the sum of our enjoyment. If this principle is cor- 
rect, then you can see the wisdom of Christ shining out 
from his moral code, and you can draw hence a powerful 
argument in favour of the divinity of his mission. Be- 
fore the introduction of Christianity, the earth had 
rolled upon her axis four thousand years, and yet man 
with all his wisdom and with all the lessons of expe- 
rience before him, did not know enough of himself and 
his own nature to refuse the evil and choose the good. 
Science and philosophy had laboured in vain for a code 
of morals which should so accord with the constitution 
of man, that obedience should give happiness and dis- 
obedience make miserable. But he that made the moral 
man knew how to fit him with a garment. He spoke 
and it was done, and in Christ Jesus the Lord, a code 
of morals is presented, so nicely fitted to man, that in 
all ages and in all countries, obedience is bliss, and in 
no age and no country can the least of all its commands 
be disregarded without a loss of happiness. I know 
there were moralists in the world before the days of 
Christ ; and some would pretend to compare the moral 
teachings of the ancient heathen philosophers with 
those of Christ, and even claim equality if not superi- 
ority for the former. On this account it becomes ne- 
cessary for me to examine some of these systems of 
morality, and compare them with Christianity. Among 
the most renowned of the ancient philosophers are 
Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Lycurgus, Seneca and Cicero. 
I deem it proper to say, in the outset, that I respect the 
names of these renowed sages of antiquity. I grant 
that they shone as lights in the darkness of the age in 
which they lived, and served their day and generation 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 



185 



well. I admit further, that they accomplished as much 
in an effort to give man a perfect system of morality, as 
the unaided wisdom of this world ever accomplished. 
I would not pluck one laurel from that crown of honour 
which an admiring world has awarded to these stars in 
the intellectual firmament. The spirit of infidelity, 
however, has dragged them from the peace of their 
graves, and brought them into the field against Christ, 
and on this account it becomes necessary for me to ex- 
amine their teachings, a work which otherwise might 
have been avoided. The following are among the most 
prominent defects in their moral systems. 

Plato taught, that parents might lawfully sacrifice 
their children. Socrates contended that a lie was in 
many instances preferable to the truth. Aristotle main- 
tained with Plato, the lawfulness and expediency of 
sacrificing children in certain cases. Lycurgus en- 
couraged theft, by an express law for that purpose, and 
Seneca and Cicero both plead for self-murder, and car- 
ried about with them implements of death for that pur- 
pose. Of them all it may be said in general terms, that 
they allowed and even encouraged, some of them by 
example as well as precept, an unlimited gratification 
of the sensual appetites, and an indulgence of unbri- 
dled lust. Cicero expressly admits that they were 
never able to reform the lives or correct the moral con- 
duct either of themselves or their followers. Lucian 
pronounces them a body of adulterers. Plutarch says, 
that even Plato and Socrates were as inconsistent and 
intemperate as any slave ; and that Aristotle was a fop 
and a destroyer of female innocence. Quintilian as- 
serts that the philosophers of his time concealed the 
most vicious lives under an austere look and a singular 
dress. (See Home's Introduction, vol. i., chap. 1.) And 
16* 



186 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 



these are the immortal worthies for whose sakes you 
would have us abjure Christ ! These are the men, 
and these the examples and precepts which you claim 
as superior to the heavenly doctrines and Godlike ex- 
amples of Christ Jesus our Lord ! You can do as you 
like, but for me I say, I cannot exchange the wisdom 
of Jesus for folly like this. 

If we advert to the present state of the pagan world, 
and compare the morality of the people, either in its 
theory or practice, with that of Christ, we shall find yet 
more abundant proof of the truth of our position. Go 
across the mighty waters and visit those nations of the 
earth, where no ray of light from the gospel of God 
has ever found its way through the " darkness visible" 
that broods, over the people. Is there any system of 
religion or code of morals to be found there which can 
claim a comparison with the gospel ? Alas ! the pic- 
ture is dark, and there is scarcely a redeeming ray to 
relieve its sombre hues. In some parts cannibalism pre- 
vails, and in almost all human life is sacrificed at the 
will of a tyrant. Females are slaves, and treated little 
better than beasts. Polygamy and the divorce of the 
wife at the will of the husband are almost universal. 
Habitual disregard of truth, tyranny in its worst forms, 
theft, deceit, falsehood, perjury, treachery, hatred, re- 
venge, cruelty and murder, prevail to an alarming extent. 
It is worthy of special remark, that these enormities are 
not practised in opposition to their religion, nor do they 
seek the remedy in that religion. On the contrary, they 
are in many instances pronounced innocent and even 
praiseworthy by their ideas of moral obligation. Nay, 
worse than this: there are other and more foul abom- 
inations which are not merely left unrestrained by any 
<of the prevailing systems of religion, but absolutely and 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 



187 



positively enjoined as sacred duties* There widows 
burn upon the funeral pyre of their husbands. There 
children bleed and die upon the altars of their gods. 
There deluded man casts his body down to be crushed m 
by the wheels of the car of Juggernaut, or throws him- 
self beneath the waves of the Ganges, a self-devoted 
victim to his religion. There modes of torture and rites 
of privation, various as a distorted fancy can suggest, 
and terrible and severe as nature can endure, are prac- 
tised to placate the wrath or propitiate the favour of 
their imaginary divinities. As for the virtues of char- 
ity, kindness, forgiveness, mercy and compassion, or the 
laws that enjoin them, where are they ? The truth 
answers that they are not. They enter not into any 
system of religion, and are neither enjoined or prac- 
tised as moral virtues. Where are their provisions for 
the support of the poor and needy ? Where are their 
hospitals for the sick, asylums for the orphan, and refu- 
ges for the unfortunate ? Where are their exertions 
for ameliorating the condition of suffering humanity, 
instructing the ignorant, and reclaiming the vicious and 
the profligate 1 They are not in pagan lands, and in 
no place under heaven can you find them but where 
they have been planted by the mild and benevolent 
spirit of the gospel. Look over the map of the world, 
and talk as much as you will of the wickedness of 
Christians, the astounding fact stares you in the face, 
that the boundary of Christianity is also the line of de- 
marcation, broad and deep, between civilization and all 
its blessings, and barbarism with all its curses. On the 
one side, those practices that adorn and exalt humanity 
are nurtured and cherished ; and on the other, the vices 
that degrade and debase man to a level with the beast 
grow in rank luxuriance- In this view of the subject, 



188 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 



we find proof of the superior moral power and efficacy 
of the gospel. 

But I might perhaps have spared myself this labour. 
It is acknowledged by sceptics that Christianity is the 
best religion in the world. But they have a system 
of philosophy which they affect to think far superior. 
I will therefore meet them here, and search the writings 
of modern sceptics to see whether their moral teachings 
are better than those of Christ. 

Lord Herbert, the first of modern deists, asserts that 
the indulgence of lust and anger is no more to be blamed 
than the thirst occasioned by a dropsy, or the drowsi- 
ness produced by a lethargy. Mr. Hobhes, who was 
contemporary in part with Herbert, contends that civil 
law is the only foundation of right and wrong— that the 
sovereign is not bound by obligations of truth and jus- 
tice, and can do no wrong to his subjects, and that ev- 
ery man has a right to all things, and may lawfully get 
them if he can. Lord Bolinbroke taught that the chief 
end of man is to gratify the appetites and inclinations 
of the flesh — modesty is inspired by prejudice — polyg- 
amy a part of the religion of nature, and there is no 
wrong but in the highest lewdness. Mr. Hume, who 
wrote in the latter part of the eighteenth century, con- 
tends that self-denial and humility are not virtues, but 
useless and mischievous — that adultery must be prac- 
tised if we would secure all the advantages of life, and 
if it were generally practised it would cease to be scan- 
dalous, and come to be thought no crime at all. Vol- 
taire and Helvetius both contend that it is right and 
proper to indulge an unlimited gratification of the sen- 
sual appetites, and the latter, that gallantry (a word 
which he uses as synonymous with adultery) should 
not be considered a vice in a moral sense. Rousseau 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 



189 



asserts that all a man feels to be right is right. (See 
Home's Introduction vol. i., chap. 1, art. 2.) Such are 
some of the moral teachings of modern sceptics, " noth- 
ing extenuated, nor aught set down in malice." I say 
nothing of the community theory of Miss Frances 
Wright and her followers, which would dissolve the 
tie that binds the husband and the wife, and make the 
wide world a huge sink of iniquity. I pass this and 
remark, that you may take the moral teachings of the 
most eminent and renowned of the deistical school, 
reduce them to universal practice and the holiest insti- 
tutions of civilized society would crumble to the dust. 
The domestic fireside would no longer remain the hal- 
lowed sanctuary of conjugal fidelity, and unbridled 
reckless and headlong passion would pour its floods of 
moral pollution over the world. I do not say that every 
deist is an immoral man. I am happy in knowing that 
such is not the fact. But this I say, if they are virtu- 
ous, if they discharge with fidelity their duty as hus- 
bands and parents, if they are even faithful in their 
conjugal relations, it is not on account of the influence 
of their principles, for these as laid down by their most 
approved writers impose no such obligation upon them. 
The moral precepts of Christianity which require hon- 
esty in all things, a sacred regard to the rights of others 
in all cases, faithfulness in husbands and wives, kind- 
ness in parents, filial obedience in children, forgiveness 
to our enemies, charity to. %e distressed, and ardent 
love to all our fellows, extending even to our enemies 
— these precepts are as much above any code of morals 
ever invented by ancient heathen or modern sceptic, as 
the heavens are above the earth. Thus much I have 
thought proper to say upon the moral precepts of the 
gospel, but these are not its chief glory. The secret 



190 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 



of its vast moral energy is not to be found in its few 
and general rules of action, but in the omnipotent power 
of its doctrines which mould and form the whole man, 
and control all his conduct. This will bring me to 
consider 

II. The superior excellency of the Christian doctrine. 

There is no sentiment more true than that of the 
apostle: "As a man thinketh, so is he." If a man 
thinks wrong, he will most certainly feel and act wrong. 
The origin, relations and destiny of man are subjects 
of vast and incalculable moment; and I much doubt 
if the moral power of men's views upon these subjects 
are generally understood or appreciated. If a man views 
himself as an inconsiderable atom, which came into 
existence by chance, and which is floating at random 
upon a fortuitous concourse of events, without law or 
government, it cannot reasonably be expected of him, 
that he will raise himself to a greater elevation in the 
scale of being than that which he imagines himself to 
occupy. If a man thinks he is a child of the devil, he 
will be likely to serve his father. If a man believes 
that he is related only to the beasts that perish, and is 
destined only to feed the worm, it may reasonably be 
.calculated that his earthly passions will reign over all 
his conduct. In like manner, if a man supposes, as 
many of the heathens, and some who profess to be 
Christians do, that his end is to dwell in the torments 
and blasphemies of hell, he will be quite likely to be 
fitting himself for that inheritance which he expects to 
possess. The different views that men entertain upon 
this subject, make them in their own estimation, almost 
entirely different creatures ; and they will consequently 
give rise to entirely different courses of conduct. The 
child of a beggar who is related only to the poor, and 



EXCELLENCY OP THE GOSPEL. 



191 



whose lot of life is to beg, cannot be expected either to 
feel or act like the son of a king, related to princes and 
born to inherit a throne. Neither can an orphan feel 
or act like a child who is surrounded with the care and 
the blessings of a father. Now let us look at Chris- 
tianity in this light, and mark its power to give a direc- 
tion to the current of feeling, and a tone to the moral 
conduct. It teaches that we all came from the forming 
hand of a God who is possessed of every possibly great 
and glorious attribute and perfection ; that we are re- 
lated to men, to angels ; nay, that God himself has 
called us children, and bids us call him Father, and 
that we are all heirs together of an immortal and incor- 
ruptible inheritance that fadeth not away, reserved for 
us in heaven. When such a doctrine as this is pro- 
claimed and believed, the same man who had heretofore 
stood in his own estimation upon a level with the beasts 
that perish, now looks upon himself in a new light, 
almost indeed as another being, and the new relations 
that he discovers point him to new and different courses 
of conduct. He now sees that he is a child of God, 
and this discovery urges him to act nobly, as becomes 
his parentage. He now sees that he is related to higher 
natures, even to the greatest and the best of beings, and 
he is thus incited to act up to the dignity of his nature. 
He discovers that he is an heir of bliss, purity and im- 
mortality, and this faith makes him feel the necessity 
and propriety of training himself for the skies. This 
is the gospel faith, and it is easy to perceive that its 
effect must be powerful upon the conduct. The man 
who embraces it in sincerity and in truth, is raised to 
the full dignity of his nature. He is no longer a beast, 
acting like a beast. He feels the divinity stirring 
within, and the dormant energies of his mind are 



192 



EXCELLENCY OP THE GOSPEL. 



aroused to action. He takes his stand upon an emi- 
nence above the turmoils of the earth. He looks down 
upon the vicious propensities of the flesh, as completely 
under his control, and in the integrity of his heart, he 
is able to say to every unhallowed passion, as the Sa- 
viour said to his offending disciple, " Get thee behind 
me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me." 

Thus the influence of the doctrinal teachings of 
Christianity is strong and powerful to check the head- 
long passions, and make men truly virtuous and sub- 
stantially good. Besides all this, Christianity teaches 
that the all-seeing eye of the omniscient God is upon 
us ; that he takes cognizance of our ways, and will re- 
ward our virtues and punish our vices. It tells us also 
that he is kind and benevolent, even to the unthankful 
and ungodly, and that men are all brethren. Inasmuch 
therefore as man can be deterred from vice by the fear 
of punishment, excited to virtue by hope of reward, op- 
erated upon by the powerful example of kindness pre- 
sented in the God he adores, or induced to love his 
fellow-creatures from the consideration of fraternal re- 
lationship, in all these respects Christianity in its the- 
ory must of necessity exert a powerful and salutary 
influence in forming the heart to love and good will. 

But I leave this view of the matter, and I appeal to 
one general principle, which will test the moral influ- 
ence of the doctrines of Christ. I never yet heard it 
disputed that the gospel is more happifying in its in- 
fluence than any other system in the world. I have 
conversed with many deists, yea, and with some 
atheists, and yet I never found among them a candid 
man, who would not freely admit that he should be 
happier if he believed the doctrines of Christ, than he 
is in the embrace of his sceptical opinions. If he could 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 193 

believe in the constant, kind and tender care of the Chris- 
tian's God, and especially in the glorious resurrection to 
life and immortality, it would fill his soul with unuttera- 
ble joy. If this is the fact, these men ought to know that 
they are inflicting a wound upon the cause of morality 
in every endeavour to destroy this faith. I hold it as a 
truth, that just in proportion as you make a man happy, 
in that exact ratio you make him kind, tenderhearted, 
and readily disposed to every good word and work. 
On the other hand, in proportion as you make him mis- 
erable, you sour his temper, sharpen his passions and 
make him unkind, hard-hearted and vicious, You may 
see an illustration of this truth every day, in your fam- 
ilies. I ask, when is there most of kindness peace and 
good will in the domestic circle ? I answer for you. 
It is when your children are the happiest. When they 
are all contented and naught disturbs or troubles them, 
then they are kind obedient and disposed to do good. 
But when they are discontented, and some circum- 
stance to them untoward, has disturbed their plans, or 
crossed their hopes, the invariable consequence is, that 
they are disposed to evil. It is so with us all. When 
we are contented with our lot, and happy within our- 
selves, then the heart is tender and kind ; but when 
corroding cares perplex Us, and we are dissatisfied with 
ourselves and those around us, then we partake of the 
spirit of wickedness and our feet are swift to do evil. 
Do you imagine that any man ever committed a crime 
when he was happy ? I am persuaded that such an 
instance never occurred. It is only when men are rest- 
less and uneasy, that they plunge into iniquity. All 
Jove to be happy, and if they have not in themselves 
those principles that can fill up the measure of their 
joy 3 they will too often seek it in licentiousness and 
17 



194 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 



sin. Give a man bread enough and he will not steal 
bread. Give him money enough and he will not steal 
gold. Satisfy the drunkard's thirst and he will no? 
drain the intoxicating bowl. Give a man the bread 
and the water of life, and he will go no more after the 
husks of iniquity, nor drink again at the stagnant pool 
of transgression. Satisfy the desires of a man and 
make him happy with the pure principles of the gospel 
of Christ Jesus our Lord, and he will have no cause to 
seek for happiness in iniquitous practices. That I am 
correct in this principle you may see from a moment's 
reflection. Ask the drunkard who goes to his midnight 
carousal, why he first went to the fountain of death ? 
and he will tell you, if he tells the truth, that he Was 
discontented and unhappy, and sought for pleasure 
there. Ask the man who has laid his hand unlawfully 
upon his neighbour's goods, and who now groans in a 
prison, what caused him to commit the crime ? and he 
will tell you the same story. Ask the vile debauchee 
why he entered upon his unholy course at first ? and he 
will tell you that a restless unhappy spirit impelled him 
onward to seek for enjoyment in scenes of riot and 
debauchery. Had these men possessed in their own 
minds, a source of happiness, upon which they could 
have drawn, the drunkard, who now lives a bloated 
curse to himself and others, would have been a sober 
man — the thief honest ; and the diseased sinner a vir- 
tuous husband and a good citizen. Just in proportion 
therefore as Christianity can make men happy, i* can 
exert a salutary moral influence ; and if its doctrines 
are more happifying than the system of the deist, as he 
allows, then it must have a greater and more salutary 
moral influence. The man who is made happy by 
faith in the Son of God, is not easily drawn aside from 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 



195 



the ^>ath of virtue. The bread of wickedness has no 
power to tempt, for he has food more desirable. The 
waters of iniquity are not sweet to him, for the wine 
of the kingdom is better. The siren song of the 
tempter, passes by like the idle wind, for he has music 
within more captivating than the bewitching notes of 
the deceiver. But the restless and unhappy man, 
whose mind is destitute of that enjoyment which flows 
from the gospel of Christ, is easily drawn aside, and 
" led captive by Satan at his will." In all countries, 
it is observable, that where the mild and equitable spirit 
of their civil institutions, renders the condition of the 
people comfortable and happy, there is least of crime. 
But where tyranny grinds the people to powder, and 
wretchedness and misery reign, there they plunge into 
the very lowest depths of iniquity. War's trumpet is 
sounded and the fields are strewed with the dead. The 
impatient, restless and unhappy spirit of a king and his 
courtiers was the cause. Whole cities and countries 
are laid in ruin, and the tyrant's scourge scatters de- 
vastation and death over the fairest portions of the 
earth. The movers of the gory engine were restless- 
and miserable wretches. These things admonish us 
to be up and doing, and there comes a voice from the 
sepulchres of ruined thousands warning us, if we wish 
to check the progress of crime, to labour with zeal to 
instil into the minds of the children of men those prin- 
ciples and hopes, that shall lead them to rejoice and be 
glad all their days. It was this view of the subject no 
doubt, that induced the Saviour and his early disciples 
to exert all their powers to hush every troubled emotion 
to peaceful rest, and inspire the people with an abiding 
and steadfast confidence in God, as a being in whose 
hands they might safely trust their immortal interests, 



196 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 



without fear of danger or disappointment. To this 
end the gospel, in all its promises and hopes is directly 
and powerfully tending. That gospel can give peace 
when all else fades away. It can light up a smile upon 
the countenance of the disconsolate widow and her 
weeping children. Its calm and heavenly voice can 
penetrate the dark dungeon of despair and cause the 
song of deliverance to break forth from the prisoners in 
the pit. It can comfort the poor, and pour the spirit 
of peace and contentment into the hearts of the mis- 
erable sons and daughters of sorrow and adversity. 
Like a holy angel of light it stands upon the mountains 
of Zion, and with the one hand beckons us to partake of 
God's bounties on earth, and with the other points us 
to the hopes of heaven. Thus it curbs the headstrong 
passions, and hushes every hurtful emotion that might 
lead to crimes of a scarlet die. Oh ! then, let the 
angel of the everlasting covenant breathe the soft spirit 
of the gospel into the valley of dry bones and they shall 
live. Let the voice of Jesus sweetly whisper peace to 
the anxious soul, and proclaim the joyous tidings of 
immortal life, and the desert shall blossom as the rose, 
and virtue, benevolence and love shall rise and shine 
forth clear as the moon walking in the glory of her 
brightness through the vault of heaven. I have thus 
attempted feebly to exhibit before you the surpassing 
" excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." 

I cannot close this subject without noting the re- 
markable fact, that Christianity is the only system of 
religion on earth, whose sole object it is, to operate 
upon the minds and hearts of the human race, and 
make them better and happier. In this it differs radi- 
cally from all other systems, and is marked as com- 
pletely distinct from all religions that originate in the. 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 



197 



wisdom of the world. All others are designed to 
operate upon God, and make him gracious, where oth- 
erwise he would be an enemy. Go over the world 
and examine all the various systems that men have 
invented. Mark the efforts of their votaries, their costly 
sacrifices, and ostentatious ceremonies. Behold vol- 
umns of incense rising, and hecatombs of oxen bleeding 
upon their altars. Mark the zeal of their professors, 
their untiring exertions and painful rites of privation ; 
and let me ask what is the cause of these ? It is simply 
this 5 the hope of changing the counsels of God and 
inducing him to be gracious to those whom he designs 
to curse. One object pervades the whole, and one 
spring puts the vast machinery in motion. All these 
systems employ the feeble efforts of man to operate 
upon the purposes of God. But it was not so with 
Christ. He sought to reconcile m,an to his God, and 
for this purpose he brought all the glories of the divine 
character, and the splendours of heaven and immor- 
tality to bear upon the hearts of the children of men, 
to mould them into the moral image of their Father 
and their God. It is this circumstance which renders 
the gospel emphatically a religion useful and precious 
for man for man universally as well as for the few. 
God is infinitely above being benefited by our services, 
or changed by our sins or virtues, but man needs the 
good influences of the spirit of truth to guide him in the 
way of virtue and peace. For this purpose Christianity 
is designed and to this end it is useful and necessary, 
wherever there is a child of Adam wandering from the 
path of righteousness. 

It is hardly necessary for me to remark, that the glo- 
rious prospect for the future, which Christianity pre- 
sents to the believer, should render it right precious to 
17* 



193 



EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL. 



pur souls, and induce us to hold it as the richest boon 
that a merciful Father has sent down from heaven. 
The hope of a glorious resurrection to immortality, 
shines beautifully in contrast with the drear prospect 
of dark annihilation^ presented in the creed of the 
sceptic. It need cost you but a moment's reflection to 
decide which is most valuable. Let me say in con- 
clusion, that however lightly we may regard this 
knowledge of Christ Jesus now, the time is coming 
when we shall all need its sustaining and supporting 
power. To each and every one of us, the day of death 
will sooner or later arrive. In that solemn hour, when, 
the earth with all its endearments is receding from our- 
view, and the soul floats upon the confines of another 
world; we shall need the hopes and the good conso- 
lations of the gospel. May I not ask, what good will 
all our scepticism do us in that solemn moment ? Will 
it pluck one thorn from the pillow of death, or give one 
spark of comfort in the last sad parting scene ? Nay. 
The gospel alone can do this, and well might the 
apostle say, <k I count all things but loss for the excel- 
lency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.'' 



DISCOURSE XII. 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY CONSIDERED. 

For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not 
together. Mark xiv. 56. 

I purpose in this discourse to notice some of the more 
common and popular objections against the Christian 
religion. It cannot of course be expected that I shall 
examine every frivolous objection that the spirit of scep- 
ticism may have urged. This would require a volume 
instead of a sermon. I intimated in the commence- 
ment, that these discourses were designed for the un- 
lettered Christian rather than for the learned student 
of theology. I shall therefore in this department exam- 
ine a few sceptical arguments of a general character, 
such as are often in the mouths of unbelievers, and 
urged with some force and effect. Among these I name 

I. The conduct of professors in different ages of the 
.Christian era. 

The pages of history are stained with blood. Those 
who have claimed to be followers of Christ have per- 
secuted one another with cruelty and barbarity.. The 
trumpet of war has been heard, and hostile armies have 
met in the field of battle, and have fought in the name, 
and professedly under the sanction of Christ. Chains 
have clanked upon the limbs of the prisoner, and the 
darkness of night has often been illuminated with the 
fires of persecution, kindled to burn the bodies of here- 
tics. Ap inquisition has been established, thousands on 



200 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 



thousands have been tortured upon the rack, and inge* 
nuity has been exerted to the utmost in devising means 
to extract a deeper groan, a more bitter pang from the 
sufferer. All this is laid to the charge of Christianity, 
and the objector is ready to say that he wants nothing 
to do with a system that has produced such evils. 

I can but remark that the use made of this objection 
by sceptics, is particularly unfair and uncandid. I 
should be glad to know if it is any new thing under the 
sun for men to go to war with one another, and destroy 
the lives of their fellows ; and if all the world has been 
at peace save that portion of it which is called Chris- 
tian? From the frequency with which this objection 
is pressed into the service of infidelity, and the lament- 
ations that are poured out over the wars and fightings 
that have occurred under the banner of the cross, one 
would be apt to suppose that all would have been uni- 
versal peace and harmony, had it not been for the Chris- 
tian religion 5 and that this alone has been the cause 
of all the blood that has stained the earth. But how 
stands the fact in this case 1 Were there no wars and 
commotions in the world before the introduction of the 
gospel ? And since that time has man nowhere lifted 
a hand against his brother, save in Christian countries ? 
Have all the nations of the earth who know not God 
or the gospel of his son, been at peace ? Have there 
been no animosities, wars and fightings among those 
who have not heard of the name of Christ ? You know 
the answer which must be given to these questions, and 
that answer should be pondered well before you very 
positively assert that the Christian religion has either 
fanned the flame of war, or added to the amount of 
bloodshed, that would have existed had it not been in- 
troduced or propagated. The truth is, that contention 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 



201 



and war were in the world before the introduction of 
the gospel, and from the earliest period of history, man 
has been the enemy of man, and from the days of Christ 
to the present time, those nations who know not his 
name have not ceased to worry and devour each other. 
Who then can affirm that Christianity has given birth 
to a spirit of contention, or nurtured that spirit, when 
already in existence ? Who can adduce one shadow 
of evidence that there would have been more of peace 
on earth and good will among men, had it not been for 
the gospel ? I know there have been quarrels and con- 
tentions among those that profess to be Christians. I 
know also that there have been wars and rumours of 
wars, and persecutions and fightings among those that 
never heard of Jesus or his religion. But what does 
all this prove? It just proves that man is man, and 
that he too frequently follows his headlong passions 
and raises a murderous arm against his brother. But 
there is one circumstance which ought not to be passed 
over. I allude to the fact that the spirit of Christianity 
has done much towards softening down the rigours and 
cruelties of war. War is at best, I confess, a cruel 
business, but it should be known, that there are gleam- 
ings of mercy, and principles of humanity, now to be 
found in the tented field, which were strangers there 
before the gospel was known ; and which are not even 
now to be found in any but Christian countries. Even 
the field of battle has felt the power of Christianity, and 
has been purged from many of its wanton cruelties and 
most dreadful atrocities by its spirit. Wars and fight- 
ings among Christian countries are now merciful in 
comparison with the savage spirit that pervades the 
warfare of heathen nations. But all this is to be counted 
as nothing, and because forsooth, the gospel has not yet 



202 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 



thoroughly purged the spirit of war from the human 
mind, it must be stigmatized as the author of an evil 
which has been in the world from the beginning 
Should it be said that Christianity has been the direct 
cause of many wars and contentions, I ask what good 
thing is there that has not been perverted to some un- 
holy purpose. Men have quarrelled about their food, 
and what then ? Shall we have no bread ? Men have 
barbarously fought for money. Will you carry out your 
logic, and say you will have no money because it has 
caused so much evil % I doubt the willingness of any 
sceptic to abide the consequences of his argument thus 
far. There have been wars, quarrels, and contentions 
among Christians ! True, but why not tell the whole 
story ? Why not say that men in all ages have been 
prone to strife and contention? Why not say that men 
of every nation and of every creed have raised the sword 
against their brethren ? Yea, why not say that even 
infidels sometimes fight, and that this very infidelity 
which you now laud to the skies, at no very remote 
period, made France in its length and breadth a field 
of battle, and caused her palaces and vine-clad hills to 
run down with gore ? Do you imagine that these facts 
are to be forgotten ? I have heard of a thief who to 
avoid suspicion would join in the chase and cry louder 
than his companions, Stop thief! stop thief! Do the 
enemies of the gospel intend to pursue a similar course ? 
Do they intend to be foremost in crying out against the 
contentions of Christians for the purpose of drawing 
away the attention of the world from the fact that their 
hands are even mere deeply stained with blood? 

I grant that those who have professed the Christian 
name have destroyed and devoured one another, but 
that Christianity ever directly tended to such results, I 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY* 



203 



utterly deny. No man can point to a word or syllable 
in all the teachings of Christ which allows or tolerates 
a spirit of war or persecution.* Did Jesus ever teach 
men to fight ? Did he ever instruct his followers to 
persecute, bite and devour one another % I unhesita- 
tingly answer in the negative. Never, no never did he 
utter one word of countenance for such things. On the 
contrary, he sternly forbade a retaliating, vindictive or 
persecuting spirit, and when one of his disciples drew 
a sword he received a prompt rebuke from his Master. 
I will here add, that Christ is the only teacher of reli- 
gion under heaven, who forbids the workings of the spirit 
of war. Mohammedanism and every form of paganism 
rank among their highest virtues, exploits upon the en- 
sanguined field, and promise the richest of heaven's 
blessings to those that die in the battle. Every system 
of religion and irreligion under heaven, modern infi- 
delity not excepted, inculcates the spirit of war ; and 
Christianity stands alone in this wicked world, uttering 
her authoritative mandate as the Saviour did to his dis- 
ciple, " put up thy sword 5" and pleading for " p ace 
on earth and goodwill to men." And yet this, the only 
system which sternly forbids all strife and contention, 
must be condemned because some of its professors in 
open and high-handed rebellion against every precept 
and example of Christ have indulged and practised a 
spirit of contention ! And this condemnatory sentence 
must come from whom % Why from the very men who 
are cherishing systems of religion which promise the 
highest seat in heaven to the man who bears the sword 
most valiantly ; or from a spirit of ixiudelity which has 
rioted in blood wherever it has had power to open a 
vein, and which stands foremost in apologizing for the 



* See note L, 



204 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 



shedding of blood. Admit then that professing Chris- 
tians have persecuted and destroyed their fellows and 
what does it prove ? It proves that they have violated 
the principles of the gospel, and practically denied their 
Master. This is the most that can be made of it, for 
I am unacquainted with any rule of justice that will 
make any system answerable for crimes which it strictly 
forbids. If it can be shown that Christ, either by pre- 
cept or example, inculcated a spirit of revenge and war, 
then there will be some propriety in appealing to "per- 
secution's rage" as an argument against his gospel. But 
as long as the sacred book contains a record of his 
teachings which positively forbid all acrimony and 
strife, it will be evident that it was not Christianity, 
but a want of conformity to its peaceable and heavenly 
principles which made men destroy one another. 

2. It is objected, that Christianity is too vague and 
indefinite, so much so, that even its professors cannot 
agree among themselves in regard to its essential doc- 
trine. One says this is Christianity, and another that, 
and a third defines it to mean something entirely differ- 
ent. No two are exactly agreed ; and hence the sceptic 
concludes that it could not come from God, otherwise 
it would have been more definite, and so simple that it 
could be understood by all. But it is now such a mass 
of confusion that he considers it all a cheat. 

I am satisfied that this one circumstance does more 
to cherish secret, if not open scepticism, than any other 
that can be named. I shall therefore give it an en- 
larged and careful examination. 

It is proper to observe in the first place, that if God 
were about to communicate a religion to man, it must 
of necessity come through the medium of language, the 
only instrument of thought by which any system could 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 205 

be communicated. Now it so happens that language 
is ambiguous and liable to be misunderstood. There 
is no work in existence which treats upon morals or 
ethics which all men will understand alike. Hence 
you will perceive that the difficulty of which you com- 
plain, is one that could not in the nature of the case be 
avoided, for we cannot conceive how even infinite wis- 
dom could select from any vocabulary, words that igno- 
rance could not misunderstand, or sophistry pervert. 
But I am not aware that any system can justly be 
charged with the unavoidable defects of the medium 
of its communication. I know not that Christianity is 
to be blamed or rejected because human language is 
imperfect and incapable of presenting it in a form that 
ingenuity might not distort, or blind bigotry pervert. 
There are but few politicians who can agree in regard 
to the precise construction which should be given to 
the constitution of the United States, and yet I never 
heard any man urge this as a reason why that instru- 
ment should be denounced or abandoned. Neither do 
I see any good reason for rejecting the Bible, because 
those who read it do not exactly agree in relation to the 
proper construction of certain of its passages. 

I observe, however, that the differences of opinion 
among professors of Christianity are not so great and 
important as the sceptic would give us to understand. 
The disputes among Christians have for the most part 
been about unimportant matters, having little or no 
connexion with the vital interests of the system. It 
has rarely, if ever occurred, that they have disagreed 
about the fundamental truths upon which the system 
is founded. They have contended and frequently with 
a \/f rong spirit, about the garniture of the building, but 
they have not disagreed about the temple itself, or the 
18 



206 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 



stability of its foundation. The great, facts upon which 
Christianity rests for support, have not been questioned 
in all the sharp contentions and bitter controversies that 
have disgraced the church. Jesus was the true Mes- 
siah, promised by the ancient prophets ; he laboured 
and suffered and died as a malefactor, and rose again 
from the dead. These are the facts upon which Chris- 
tianity is founded 5 and I am not aware that there has 
been any controversy in the church in regard to the 
truth of these pillars of the temple. In minor points 
men have disagreed, and most shamefully abused their 
profession by the heat and acrimony of their strife > but 
in relation to the material facts, which affect the truth 
or falsity of the system they have been uniform and ex- 
plicit in their testimony. 

We grant however that Christians do not agree in 
some doctrines that are of some considerable conse- 
quence, and if our adversaries w T ould be content to 
receive this as an evidence of the frailty of human na- 
ture, and the liability of man to err in judgment, we 
would leave the subject here. But this circumstance 
is so frequently pushed into the field of opposition to the 
gospel, that I feel disposed to pursue it a little further. 
I will not here deny the disagreement of Christians, 
but I may be allowed to call in question the right of 
some people to cast the first stone. There are among 
us those who cease not day nor night to assail the char- 
acter and revile the religion of Christ. In the pride of 
their vain philosophy, they scorn to learn wisdom from 
Jesus, and contend, that all we can know of truth and 
religion, we must learn from nature. These are inces- 
santly harping upon the divisions of sentiments that 
prevail among Christians, and because they do rot all 
see with the same eyes in every particular, they contend 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 



207 



that the whole system is false. So loud and frequent 
are their declamations upon the diversity of sentiment 
among the professors of Christianity, that one who was 
unacquainted with facts, would be apt to suppose they 
had discovered the true philosopher's stone, which 
would test truth in a moment, and that there was nought 
but unbroken harmony of sentiment in the world, the 
Christian Church only excepted. There is a work 
called " Volney's Ruins," which for the beauty and 
sublimity of its style, as well as for the ingenuity of its 
argument, is perhaps surpassed by no work of its kind. 
Those who have perused that work will recollect the 
whole of its argument against all religion, centres in 
the position that there are diversities of sentiment 
among its professors. The argument is indeed levelled 
at all systems that claim a divine origin, but it is easy 
to perceive that the main shaft is aimed at Christianity. 
From the fact that the advocates of religion cannot 
agree in sentiment among themselves, the author draws 
the sweeping conclusion that the whole of it is false 
and pernicious. 

Now it is time to take a look at the other side of this 
picture. It ought to be known that these men are guilty 
of the very same things for which they condemn Chris- 
tians. Much as they talk about divisions in the ranks 
of Christ, and eagerly as they bear witness against him, 
it should be understood that their witness " agrees not 
together," a fraction more than did the testimony of 
those who stood up to bear false witness against him, 
in the days of his sojourn on earth. Save in an appar- 
ently obstinate and reckless determination to abuse and 
vilify the character and the religion of Christ, there is 
scarcely a shadow of harmony among those who stand 
in array against him and his religion. I pass over the 



208 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY, 



heathen world, who are all opposed to Christianity, and 
who are at variance among themselves, in silence, and 
remark, that you may take the teachings of infidels them- 
selves, with all their superior illuminations and true 
philosophy, and you will not find them as harmonious as 
some would have you imagine. You may collect to- 
gether all their writings, from Bolinbroke and Hume, 
down to Thomas Paine, Frances Wright, and the author 
of " Ecce Homo," and you can find in no sect or religion 
under the canopy of heaven, a more inconsistent medley 
of contradictions than they will present. Their incon- 
gruities of sentiment extend not only to their charges 
against Christ, but to the very radical principles of those 
systems which they offer as substitutes for the gospel. 

Ask of Rousseau, the accomplished and learned phi- 
losopher, who opposed the gospel with all the powers 
of his gigantic mind, what he thinks of Christ and his 
religion ? He will answer you thus : " I confess that 
the majesty of the Scriptures strikes me with admira- 
tion, and the purity of the gospel hath its influence on 
my heart. When Plato described his imaginary good 
man with all the shame of guilt, yet meriting the high- 
est rewards of virtue, he gave a description of the char- 
acter of Jesus Christ. If the life and death of Socrates 
were those of a sage, the life and death of Jesus were 
those of a God." If you turn to the author of the Age 
of Reason and ask his opinion, he will tell you he be- 
lieves that Christ lived and taught excellent morality, 
and that he was a good man, the most prominent trait 
of whose character was philanthropy. And yet in an- 
other part of their works these same authors complain 
of his morality, as inferior to that of the ancient philoso- 
phers, and denounce him as an illegitimate child, a thief 
and the greatest impostor that ever lived. The earl 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 



209 



of Shaftsbury says that those are to be censured who 
represent the gospel as a fraud, and he hopes its ene- 
mies will like it better, and its friends prize it more. 
And yet this same man insinuates that Christ was 
influenced by ambitious motives, and cherished a sav- 
age spirit of persecution, and that the Scriptures are a 
cunning invention designed to secure a profitable mo- 
nopoly. He further contends, that those who advocate 
atheism are defending opinions that operate against 
the well-being of society, and yet he maintains that 
atheism has no tendency to take away a sense of right 
and wrong. He says that miracles are ridiculous, and 
Christianity is without foundation in truth ; and yet it 
ought to be received when established by the magis- 
trate. Mr. Hobbes says that God exists, and honour, 
worship, prayer and praise are due to him, and yet every 
thing that is not matter, is nothing, and all religion is 
ridiculous. Mr. Woolston says that the gospels are full 
of incredibilities, impossibilities, and absurdities, resem- 
bling Gulliverian tales of things which never had an 
existence except in romance. And yet this same man 
says he is far from infidelity, and writes for the honour 
of the " Holy Jesus, to whom be glory for ever, amen." 

Dr. Tindal declares that Christianity when stripped 
of the additions which mistake or policy has added to 
it, is a most holy religion ; and that all the doctrines 
of Christianity plainly speak for themselves as coming 
from an infinitely wise and holy God. And yet this 
same author contends that the Scriptures are obscure 
and fit only to perplex men, that the precepts of the 
gospel are loose and undefined, and incapable of being 
understood, that they give wrong apprehensions of God 
and are false and pernicious. Mr. Chubb says he hopes 
to share the favour of God in a future world, that the 
18* 



210 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 



mission of Christ is probably divine, and he was sent 
into the world to reveal to mankind the will of God 5 
and that the New Testament contains many excellent 
cautions and instructions for our conduct, and yields a 
much clearer light than any other traditionary revela- 
tion. But after all this, the same author attempts to 
show that this New Testament which contains so many 
excellent moral instructions, and is so clear in its light, 
has tended to perplex and confuse mankind, and exhibits 
doctrines that are heretical, dishonourable to God, and 
injurious to man. The apostles were impostors, and 
the Acts of the Apostles resemble Jewish fables and 
popish legends rather than facts. The morality of 
Christ himself is not so good as that of other teachers, 
and the birth and resurrection of the same Jesus whose 
mission he allows to be divine, is incredible and ridic- 
ulous. 

Lord Bolinbroke says that Christianity is but a re- 
publication of the religion of nature, and a benevolent 
system of pure morality. And yet he ridicules its doc- 
trines as idle dreams, and wrote much for the express 
purpose of destroying it. (See Home's Introduction, 
vol. I., chap. 1., sec. 1.) So I might go on almost ad 
infinitum, and find an endless variety of contradiction. 
One will assure you that the pretended miracles of 
Christ were a piece of deception, which he practised by 
means of some system of magic or jugglery of which 
he was the author, or which he had learned from some 
one else. Another will tell you that the account of 
these miracles is nought but a forgery, intended to de- 
ceive the world. Another will allow that Christ lived 
and was a good man, but enthusiastic, and the story 
of his resurrection was invented by his disciples, and 
if last of all you were to inquire of Wright, Owen or 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 



211 



Kneeland, they would stake you a thousand dollars that 
no such man as Christ ever lived, and the whole story 
is a fabrication invented by knavish priests some hun- 
dred years after the events are said to have occurred.* 
Thus they all " bear witness against him, but their 
witness agrees not together." 

The same contradictions pervade these theories which 
they offer us in exchange for the gospel. Herbert, 
Hobbes, Shaftsbury, Bolinbroke, Gibbon, Volney and 
Paine, will tell you there is a God, who is great and 
good, and speak of him at times in strains of praise that 
would do honour to a Christian. But Hume contends 
that there is n® evidence of the existence of such a 
being ; and Voltaire and Helvetius, with the infidels 
of France, will give you for the first article of your 
creed, " There is no God." Others will contend that all 
nature owes its existence in its present form, to the laws 
of matter, and there is no need of a Creator ; and others 
again, will raise the standard of Pantheism and contend 
that all is God. 

So it is in relation to the nature and the future pros- 
pects of man. Some will amuse you with fine spun 
theories of metempsychosis or the transmigration of 
souls; and others mounting the system of progression 
will explain to you how man's ancestors were among 
the beasts or creeping things of the earth, he having 
progressed from that low estate, to his present condition, 
and is destined still to go onward till he shall look 
down upon his present capacities and powers as things 
beneath him. Mr. Chubb and Paine will inform you 
that they hope to live in a better and happier world, 
while Vokaire, Hume, Bolinbroke, Herbert, Tindal, 
Volney, Owen, Kneeland, and others, laugh at the idea 



* See note M. 



212 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY, 



of future life, and declare that death is an eternal sleep, 
And yet these are the men who talk so long and loud 
about the differences that obtain among professors of 
Christianity. These are the men who can unite with 
as much hearty good will as Herod and Pilate, in op- 
position to Christ, and contend that there is no truth 
in his gospel because its professors differ in opinion. 
These men can read you a lecture upon the superior 
glory that shines in the light of nature and their philos- 
ophy, without apparently dreaming that they themselves 
are sadly at loggerheads,and save in opposition to Christ, 
there is scarcely a point of concord or agreement among 
them. Blame us not then if we say in the language 
of our Master, " pluck first the beam out of thine own 
eye, then shalt thou see clearly to take the mote from 
thy brother's eye." First settle your own disputes; 
get some system that all the infidels in the world will 
agree upon as truth, and then you may if you please, 
offer your services as mediators to settle disputes 
among Christians. I would not indeed urge these 
differences of opinion among sceptics as an argument 
against any of their systems, for however much men 
may differ, the truth is the same. But these facts do 
prove, in my estimation, that the light of nature and of 
reason is not so clear upon these subjects, as to secure 
harmony of opinion, or save from error. And there is 
another salutary lesson, that these contradictions among 
sceptics ought to teach them. They would be wise in 
this case to learn the meaning of that proverb which 
says, that those who live in glass houses should be cau- 
tious about casting stones at their neighbour's windows. 

3. The third and last objection that I shall name is ; 
that Christianity requires of men things that are im- 
possible. 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 



213 



It requires us to love God with all our heart, soul 
mind and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves, 
and even our enemies to be included. Now says 
the sceptic, this is an unreasonable requirement, and 
I cannot obey it. I have never seen God, and I 
cannot love him whom I have not seen. You can 
not love God can you? You can love your father 
and your mother, your wife and your children. These 
you have seen and known, but you have not seen God. 
Very well ; you can read the history of Washington, 
and though your eyes never beheld him, nor your hands 
handled him, your hearts can beat high with gratitude 
and love. You can even take up a work of fiction, and 
as you read the character of a hero of romance, you 
can weep over his ideal miseries, and every fibre of the 
heart can admire his name, and deeply feel on his 
account. But you cannot love God ! You can look 
upon your own cherished form, that bears the impress 
of his hand, and reflect that he breathed into your nos- 
trils the breath of life and nursed and brought you up ; 
and poured his blessings all around you, and yet you 
cannot love him? You can look upon the heavens, the 
works of his hand and upon the earth overflowing with 
his benefactions. You can see the valleys covered with 
corn and the mountains with flocks, the storehouse 
filled with food, and the press overflowing with wine, 
and you cannot love the God, from whose hand all 
these things are given. Yea, you can take up the Bible 
and read the melting descriptions there given of that 
love in God, which is stronger than death, which many 
waters cannot quench nor the floods drown. Love, 
that watched over you with a parent's care in childhood 
and in youth, Love, vast as eternity and pure as the 
fire that burns upon the altar of heaven. Love, ineffably 



214 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 



glorious, that stooped from the throne on high, and 
spared not his own son that you might live ! All this 
you can read, and remain cold as Lapland, without one 
feeling of veneration, or one throe of gratitude to that 
being, who has loved and blessed you thus abundantly ! 
Nay, it is not so. Your hearts are not made of stone, 
neither are ye demons that cannot feel. Let God be 
known as he is — let the full radiance of his glory shine 
upon the benighted understanding, and the hardest 
heart will melt before it, and the most obdurate sinner 
cry, Abba, Father ! 

But you cannot, you say, love your enemy. When a 
man injures you to the extent of his power, and exhibits 
no determination or disposition to alter his course of 
conduct, it is impossible for you to love him ! You can 
love your children, and if one of them by some means 
should become your enemy, you would continue to love 
him. You can love your brother according to the flesh, 
and if he by some ignorance of your character, should 
become your enemy, you would love him still. Why 
then can you not love your enemies 1 Have you not 
been taught, that one God hath created us, and that 
having all one father, we are all brethren of the same 
common family, and heirs together of the same immor- 
tal inheritance that is incorruptible undefiled and fadeth 
not away ? These are the views which Christianity 
gives of our fellow-creatures, and with them there is 
nothing inconsistent or unreasonable, much less im- 
possible in the command to love our enemies. It does 
not necessarily follow from the fact, that we love our 
enemy, that we must approve his conduct or love his 
enmity. But if we look upon him as we ought, a brother 
of the same family with ourselves, a child of the same 
God and a traveller to the same home, as well as an 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 



215 



Object of our heavenly Father's love, we shall feel to 
pity rather than condemn, and love rather than hate. 
With these views, and these only, we are commanded 
to love our enemies, and it is a remarkable fact, that 
our Saviour when he gave that command, was careful 
to add the reason on which it was founded : " Ye shall 
be the children of your Father who is in heaven, for 
he maketh his sun to rise upon the evil and the good, 
and sendeth rain upon the just and the unjust. 

I have now pursued this subject as far as I at first 
intended, and it remains for you to say whether you 
will shut your eyes on all the glories of heaven and 
immortality, and look forward to a dreary eternity of 
nonentity. I am sensible, that the subject is but just 
begun, and that it has often been handled by abler 
hands j but I was anxious to contribute my mite to- 
wards increasing the faith and the consequent happi- 
ness of my fellow-creatures. The religion of Christ I 
most tenderly love. Call it enthusiasm or what you 
please, but the Lord knoweth, if there is any thing 
this side of eternity, that lies near my heart, it is the 
gospel of Christ Jesus my Lord. I view it as the only 
light that can dawn upon the darkness of the grave, 
and the only sure foundation of substantial and un- 
changing bliss in life. I feel and I know that it can bear 
the joyful cup of consolation to the prisoner in the dark 
dungeon of despair, and cause the song of deliverance 
to the captive to come up from the pit sweet as the 
music of angels in the paradise of God. It has been 
the joy of millions in all the varied circumstances of 
human life. It has been the stay and the staff of the 
aged, the comfort of the afflicted, and the support of the 
poor and the destitute. It has been with the sick and 
the dying, and made the dying bed feel soft as downy 



216 



OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY. 



pillows are. Yea, and it has lingered around the house 
of affliction, where bereaved affection mourns its sun- 
dered ties, and mothers weep for their children, that 
are not. The lone widow's tears have ceased to flow, 
as she has caught its inspiring spirit, and the orphan's 
feeble moan has been hushed by its soothing voice. In 
the strength of its faith, the aged pilgrim with ripened 
locks, has leaned upon his staff over the grave of his 
darling child, and joyed in the reflection that soon, very 
soon, he should meet the lost one in heaven. Nor is 
this all ; it has shorn death of his terrors, and stripped 
the grave of its darkness, and put the song of victory 
upon the quivering lips of millions in the last agonies 
of the dying moment. Oh ! then give me these waters 
of life, and whatever else you may deny me, give me 
the privilege of leading my fainting, famishing fellow- 
mortals up to this fountain of living waters, where they 
roll from the throne of God and the Lamb, and it shall 
be enough for me. If such is the gospel of Christ, then 
I counsel you to hold it fast and not let it go. Let the 
aged hold it as their last hope, and the unfortunate as 
their only refuge. Let fathers teach it to their children 
and mothers to their daughters, that generations yet 
unborn may rise up and call the Saviour blessed ; and 
let the youth be admonished to beware how they spurn 
this most precious of heaven's jewels rashly from their 
minds. I close in the language of the poet : — 

11 Oh ! for a strong, a lasting faith 
To credit what Jehovah saith, 
To hear the message of his Son, 
And call the joys of heaven our own." 



DISCOURSE XIII. 



CONCLUSION. 

But I certify you, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached of 
me is not after man. Gal. i. 11. 

In the preceding discourses I have laboured to show* 
that the fundamental principles of the Gospel of Jesus 
Christ, are sanctioned by the principles of reason, the 
testimony of experience, and the voice of nature. I 
have passed in review, the existence, the attributes, 
and the government of God, and the still more glori- 
ous and heart-cheering doctrine of the resurrection of 
the dead, and have endeavoured to prove that they are 
founded upon the substantial basis of truth. I have 
also examined some opposing theories, and attempted 
to obviate some of the more common and popular ob- 
jections which are urged against the Christian religion. 
How far I have succeeded in my purpose, it becomes 
not me to say. It was my original intention to close 
these discourses here, but circumstances being favour- 
able, I have concluded to offer a few additional con- 
siderations, which are seriously commended to the at- 
tention of the sceptic. 

It is well known that there are a multitude of reli- 
gious systems in the world, all claiming a divine 
origin, and if I do not err, it is a capital mistake with 
the sceptic, that he places them all upon the same 
foundation, and argues against them all upon the same 
general principles. He places Mohammedanism, and 
Paganism, and Christianity, all upon the same com- 
19 



2iS 



CONCLUSION. 



mon level, and frequently reasons as if he supposed 
that they would be alike affected by the same argu- 
ments, I have no disposition to question the motives 
which induce men to pursue this course, but I feel 
certain that it is a capital error in logic. The man 
who should attempt to overthrow the Newtonian sys- 
tem of philosophy, by classing it with the speculations 
of the ancient schools, would be guilty of no greater 
error than he that seeks to destroy Christianity by 
uniting it with the systems of men. There is a line 
of demarcation, between the gospel and all other sys- 
tems of religion, as broad and deep as any that can be 
imagined between Newton's philosophy and the spec- 
ulations of the ancients. The gospel of Christ is noi 
after men. It has no pattern in the systems of this 
world, but it stands out in bold relief, radically and 
totally distinct from all other systems ; based upon 
different principles, and supported by different evidence 
from any other religion under the whole heavens. You 
may pass over the habitable earth, and blot out every 
other system that can be found ; you may obliterate 
every vestige of Paganism in all its forms, and along 
with it Mohammedanism with all its modifications, and 
confute every semblance of an argument by which 
they are defended, and, after all, you will not have 
touched one stone in the temple of Christ. You may, 
indeed, have purified the gospel from some of those 
corruptions which the wisdom of this world has incor- 
porated with it, but the gospel itself would come forth 
from the ordeal, as gold from the furnace ; and, being 
redeemed from a body of sin and death, would go on to 
reneived and more glorious conquests. 

I deem it somewhat important that the sceptic 
should understand this matter ; for, until it is under- 



CONCLUSION. 



219 



stood, Christians will smile when, in his zeal to de- 
stroy Christianity, he engages in a Quixotic warfare 
with " another gospel, which is not another." I shall, 
therefore, make it the business of this discourse to point 
out some radical distinctions between Christianity 
and all other systems. 
I. It differs in its nature. 

The nature of the gospel is clearly defined in saying 
that it is a message of peace on earth, and good will to 
men. The ancient prophets called its author the 
Prince of peace. They said that he should speak 
peace to the heathen ; that of the increase of his gov- 
ernment and peace there should be no end ; that under 
his reign God would extend peace like a river, and his 
gospel is repeatedly and emphatically called the cove- 
nant of peace. How well he sustained the character 
given him by the ancient prophets, any one may see from 
an examination of the record that is given of him in the 
New Testament. The annunciation of his birth, was, 
" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and 
good will to men." In all his preaching he spoke the 
words of peace. Among his last words to his disciples 
were these : " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give 
unto you." When he sent them out to preach, he 
charged them into whatever house they entered, to say, 
" Peace be to this house;" and, obedient to the com- 
mand, they went forth, preaching peace to them that 
were far off, and to them that were nigh. Hence you 
will see the correctness of the remark, that the gospel 
is aptly described in saying, that it is a message of 
peace on earth, and good will to men. 

Now there is not on earth another system of religion 
to which such a description can be properly applied. 
You may go over the face of the earth, and ex- 



220 



CONCLUSION. 



amine all the various systems that men have invented, 
and I hazard nothing in saying, that you cannot find 
one of which you can say, in truth, that it is a message 
of peace and good will. What is still more remarkable 
about the gospel, is the fact, that it speaks peace even 
to its most bitter enemies. It makes no exceptions, 
but what it says to one, it says to all. Its professors 
are commanded to bless, and curse not; to bless those 
that persecute them, and pray for those that despite- 
fully use them. The Saviour did not say to his disci- 
ples that they should go to some places and preach 
peace, and to others and sound the tocsin of war. But 
his command was, " Into whatsoever house ye enter, 
say, Peace to this house." Here, then, you can see that 
the gospel differs radically from all other systems, and 
here is conspicuously displayed the truth of our text, 
that it is not after man. Examine the systems of men, 
and you will find this principle pervading them all. 
They speak of peace and good will to their friends, 
but they breathe the spirit of war to their enemies. In 
no system on earth can you find the principle of 
preaching peace and good will to enemies recognised, 
save only in the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is 
surely a circumstance, which the sceptic ought not to 
overlook, and when he objects to all systems of reli- 
gion that they are warlike in their nature, he ought in 
justice and honesty to exempt the gospel from this 
charge. It matters not how much the professors of 
Christianity may have maltreated, and cursed, and 
abused their fellows. The system itself tolerates no 
such thing, and it ought not to be made answerable 
for conduct which it positively forbids. 

Again I remark, that the nature of the gospel is such, 
that all its appeals ar-e made to the best and purest 



CONCLUSION. 



221 



principles of human nature. The God that it presents 
for our adoration, is pure, for it informs us that he is 
love. In him the stormy passions of wrath, hatred, 
revenge, and cruelty, find no abiding place. The 
Saviour that it presents as our great pattern and ex- 
ample, is free from all those corrupt and boisterous 
passions, the exercise of which, sound wisdom would 
condemn. The heaven to which it points as our ever- 
lasting home, is pure. There no unclean thing can 
enter, but all is immortal purity and holiness. These 
things cannot be said of any other system. In the 
systems of men, the gods that are worshipped are 
characterized for little else than an exercise of those 
passions that disgrace and degrade humanity. They 
are, without exception, capricious, partial, tyrannical, 
unmerciful and cruel. Their most exalted virtues, are 
feats of carnage and blood, and their highest enjoy- 
ments, are feasts of gluttony, and scenes of inebriation 
and debauchery. Their heaven is little better than a 
banqueting-hall, where the sensual appetites are in- 
dulged with unbridled liberty. Hence it happens that 
their incentives to action are addressed to the lowest 
and basest passions of the human heart. The love of 
fame, the passions of jealousy, revenge, and lust, are 
touched as the springs from which the conduct must 
proceed. The hope of a narrow and corrupt heaven, 
and the fear of the anger of their gods, are the two 
moving springs of action. It is not so with the gos- 
pel. This seeks to draw and allure by the sweet in- 
fluences of love divine. It leaves its votaries freemen, 
excited only by the best and tenderest motives, while 
other systems drive the slave with the lash, or pur- 
chase the hypocrite with a bribe. It would be well foi 
the sceptic to bear these things in mind, and when he 
19* 



223 



CONCLUSION . 



objects to religion, that its motives are mercenary, and 
that it makes men slaves and hypocrites, or exalts the 
few at the expense of the many, he would do well to 
recollect that, however true his objection may be in 
other cases, it has no solid foundation when applied to 
the gospel of Christ. 

II. The gospel differs from all other systems in the 
object which it proposes to accomplish. 

View Christianity in whatever light you will, and 
you will find that its highest and holiest, nay, its only 
object is to make men better and happier. It is de- 
signed for man, and for man alone, and it brings all its 
powers to operate upon the human heart, to mould it 
into the pure and heavenly image of its God. The 
systems of men have a far different object in view. 
They seek not so much to operate upon man, as upon 
their gods. They seek not to improve, purify, and 
elevate man, but to placate the wrath, and conciliate 
the favour of their deities. You have only to look at 
heathen lands, in order to see the truth of this remark. 
There the people are engaged in the performance of a 
thousand rites, and the observance of a thousand forms 5 
many of them costly as their means will allow, and 
painful as nature can endure. There victims bleed 
upon their altars, and volumes of incense arise from 
temples devoted to the service of their gods. What, I 
ask, is the object? The answer is, to have an effect 
upon the disposition or purposes of their divinities. 
They all commence with the position, that the gods 
are unpropitious, and something must be done to secure 
their favour. Every principle of doctrine proceeds, 
more or less remotely, if not directly, from this single 
position. Hence they labour and suffer, not to make 
themselves any better, but to operate upon their gods, 



CONCLUSION 



223 



&fod secure their friendship. This remark is true of all 
systems, save the gospel. Man never yet invented a 
system of religion, which did not seek as its first ohject 
to make God better than he would be without it. In 
this respect, the gospel stands alone, and it presents 
the only system under heaven, whose object is to train 
and cultivate the human heart, and make it what it 
should be* It commences with the position, that God 
is good enough as he is, and ever has been ; and hence 
it seeks, not to bend God's will or disposition to the 
caprice of his creatures; but it lays hold upon man, 
and seeks to conform him to the divine image. It re- 
quires no burnt-offering or sacrifice, no rites of priva- 
tion or hardship to appease the wrath of its God. But 
it requires man to raise his affections and hopes from 
dust and vanity, and employ his nobler powers, in pro- 
moting his own happiness, and that of his fellow-crea- 
tures. If I mistake not, this is a feature of the gospel 
which has been overlooked, not less by sceptics, than 
by many who profess to be Christians. It would be 
well for both if they would bear in mind that Christ 
has never instructed us to labour for the purpose of 
changing God, but to benefit ourselves. In a particu- 
lar manner, the sceptic would do well to remembe^ 
when he objects to religion, that it consists of doc- 
trines and practices, which are designed to affect an 
invisible being, while they bear heavily upon man, 
that the remark will not apply to Christianity. The 
gospel claims not to be a religion which man has 
made for God, but a religion which God has made for 
man. It should be remarked, further, that while the 
gospel claims to be a revelation from God, it claims to 
be no more than a revelation. Its object is not like 
other systems, to make things true which otherwise 



CONCLUSION. 



would be false, but to reveal what is already true. u To 
this end was I born, and for this cause came I into 
the world, that I might bear witness to the truth," is 
the Saviour's own declaration of the object of his mis 
sion. 

Another distinguishing feature in the gospel, is its 
impartiality. All other systems have for their object 
the exaltation of a few, and the degradation of the 
many. They propose to bless only a few, and all their 
favours are confined to a narrow circle. Man never 
invented a system of religion that was not partial. 
But it is far otherwise with the gospel. It is impartial 
as the light of heaven. It scatters its blessings with 
unsparing liberality upon all ; and, while it denies its 
ultimate joys not even to its most bitter enemies, it 
teaches that all shall be brought in, and finally be 
made the recipients of its benefactions. Here, also, it 
differs widely from all other systems, and by this it is 
marked as entirely distinct from the inventions of men. 
Man is too selfish and partial in his feelings, to invent 
such a system. It takes the impartiality of that God 
who maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the 
good, and sendeth rain upon the just and the unjust, 
to a system so broad and extensive. Will the sceptic 
think of this, when he urges the partiality of religion 
as an objection against it ? 

III. Christianity differs from all other systems in the 
nature of the evidence by which it is sustained. 

It is a remarkable fact, that our Saviour did not ask 
the people to take his own word or that of the disciples 
for the truth of what he taught. He appealed to na- 
ture around him, to the ancient prophets, and his own 
works as the evidences that he taught them the truth. 
The fowls of the air, and the lilies of the field, the 



CONCLUSION. 



225 



shining sun, and the gently-falling shower, were his 
proofs that he uttered the truth, when he taught the 
paternal care and impartial favour of his Father and 
his God. These were evidences that they could see 
around them every day of their lives, and their testi- 
mony could not be impeached. There is no other 
teacher or founder of a system of religion that ever 
proceeded in this way. When Mohammed taught the 
people that he had seen visions, and had been permit- 
ted to enter the upper world, his followers were obliged 
to rely upon his word, for the truth of what he asserted. 
There is in all his teachings no appeal made to things 
that were tangible to the senses for the proof of what 
he taught. The same is true of all other systems, 
save the gospel. The veracity of interested individu- 
als is the sum total of proof by which they are accom- 
panied. 

Again: when Jesus taught his grand and glorious 
doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, he did not pre- 
sent it as a speculation or vision of his own. But he 
lold the people that he himself would descend into the 
grave, and, rising from the dead, show them by demon- 
stration that it was true. I have before shown, that in 
this respect, he redeemed his pledge, and I need not 
argue that point again. The evidence was of such a 
nature that it could not be gainsayed or disputed, and 
it is not, therefore, to be placed upon a par with sys- 
tems which claim no tangible evidence or ocular 
demonstration. 

Again: he appealed to his works as the evidence of 
the divine authenticity of his mission. He healed the 
sick, gave hearing to the deaf, sight to the blind, and life 
to the dead ; and to these miracles he constantly appeal- 
ed for the truth of his words. It is especially worthy of 



226 



CONCLUSION. 



remark that these miracles differ materially from the 
pretended miracles of impostors. They were void of 
all appearance of ostentation and show, or of any cir- 
cumstances that manifested a disposition to give them 
an imposing aspect. When an impostor has pretended 
to work miracles, he has usually admitted his follow- 
ers only to see them. He has had his subject in some 
particular place or position. He has repeated his mys- 
terious incantations which none but the initiated were 
able to understand. Of all such cases I may say, 
without exception, that they have been surrounded by 
circumstances under which deception might hide her- 
self. But you see none of this in the miracles recorded 
in the New Testament. They were performed any 
where and every where that occasion presented. 
They were performed in the open light of day, and 
before the scrutinizing gaze of his most violent and 
fitter enemies. I risk nothing in saying, that if Christ 
was an impostor, and these miracles were not actually 
-performed, he was such an impostor as never lived 
hefore or since his day; and he proceeded with an 
appearance of frankness and honesty, that can be found 
in the case of no deceiver since the world was made. 
The sceptic would do well to remember these circum- 
stances, and to ponder them well in his heart, before 
he classes the miracles of Christ with the juggling 
tricks, and feats of legerdemain, which have been per- 
formed by deceivers. Be it remembered that Christ 
appealed to these miracles as proof that his words 
were faithful and true. "When he did this, he did not 
.ask them to take his word, or the word of his disciples, 
as evidence that he had actually wrought them, On 
the contrary, he spake to the very men, that saw them 
with their own eyes, and he asked them to believe 



CONCLUSION, 



227 



him, not on account of what he had said concerning 
himself, but for what their eyes had seen of his power. 
The lame and the halt, the deaf and the blind, who had 
been healed by his power y were before them, and 
among them, and they knew whether the miracles had 
been wrought or not. If they had not been wrought, 
nothing on earth could exhibit greater folly than 
the course he pursued. In such a case, we shall 
be reduced to the necessity of supposing that he ap- 
pealed to his enemies, and told them to their faces, 
that they had seen things which they had not seen 3 
and which, in fact, had never been performed, 

It may be said that at this day, we are under the 
necessity of relying upon the testimony of others for 
our evidence that the miracles were performed. This 
is true, and I would fain ask what other evidence we 
can have. Suppose the miracles were actually per- 
formed, I should be pleased to know what other method 
could have been adopted to bear them down to us, than 
that which has been adopted ? I would fain ask the 
sceptic to devise some plan, by which events that oc- 
curred eighteen hundred years ago, could be proved to 
us, which should give us greater evidence than that 
which we now possess, that they did actually occur. 
We have the recorded testimony of at least four credi- 
ble historians, two of whom say they were eyewit- 
nesses of the facts. And then we have the negative 
fact/ that no man in that age or country disputed the 
truth of these things. More than this, we have the 
unparalleled spread of Christianity among the very 
people who could have discovered the cheat, if it had 
been one. Now let us suppose for a moment, that the 
miracles recorded in the New Testament had actually 
been wrought ; I ask the sceptic what plan he would 



228 



CONCLUSION, 



adopt to prove it to the people of this age, with an? 
greater clearness, than it is already proved '? Let him 
think of this question, before he complains of a lack of 
evidence, or classes the miracles of Christ with the 
tricks of impostors. 

Perhaps I have wandered from the precise point with 
w r hich I commenced. I wanted to show you that 
Christianity, at the time of its introduction, came to the 
people with evidence that was tangible to their senses ; 
that it set up higher claims, and pointed to evidence 
of a kind that was never claimed or possessed by any 
other system. It pointed the people to nature before 
them, and to miracles which they themselves had 
seen, instead of directing them to invisible things, or 
requiring them to take the word of those wjio were in- 
terested in its establishment. In this I think it differs 
widely from any system of human invention. 

There is another field of evidence in favour of Chris- 
tianity, which is, perhaps, more full, clear, and expli- 
cit in this day, than it was in the days of Christ; and 
which, I believe, cannot be claimed by any other sys- 
tem. I allude to the fulfilment of prophecy. The 
prediction of future eveDts is as much beyond the 
power of man alone, as is the miraculous cure of the 
sick, or the raising of the dead. Hence, if we now 
have ocular demonstration of the fulfilment of prophe- 
cies uttered in the Bible, we have proof positive of its 
divine truth, fully sufficient to show that it is not after 
man. This evidence is abundant ; and though we can- 
not point to miracles performed upon physical nature, 
yet we can point to facts now before the eyes of the 
world, which were the subject of prophecy many cen- 
turies past. Thus it will be seen that though the evi- 
dence of Christianity may have diminished in one 



CONCLUSION. 



229 



department, it has accumulated in another, and every 
century is adding to its stores. 

I cannot enter largely into this field of evidence in 
one discourse. An instance or two must suffice for our 
present purpose. I take the remarkable prophecies of 
Christ in relation to the destruction of Jerusalem, and 
the circumstances which should precede that event. I 
select these because they are of a character which no 
human wisdom could foresee, and were fulfilled with 
an accuracy which can leave no doubt of their identity. 
Of the signs that should precede that dreadful event, 
the following were foretold. 

1. The appearance of false Ch'rists or Messiahs. 
"Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, 
and shall deceive many. 55 Mark xiii. 5. 6. Luke xxi. 
8. Josephus informs us that, as the national calami- 
ties increased, there were many who pretended to 
divine inspiration, and deceived the people. He as- 
sures us that the land was overrun with magicians, 
seducers, and impostors, who drew the people after 
them in multitudes into solitudes and deserts, to see 
signs and miracles which they promised to show by 
the power of God. Among these impostors was 
Dositheus, the Samaritan, who averred that he was 
the Christ foretold by Moses ; Simon Magus, who 
said he was the son of God, and Theudas, who pre- 
tended to be a prophet, and persuaded multitudes to 
follow him to Jordan, declaring that he was divinely 
authorized to divide the waters, that they might pass 
over in safety. Many others might be named, but 
these are sufficient to show the fulfilment of the 
prophecv, "Many shall come in my name, saying, I 
am Christ, and shall deceive many. 55 
2. The second sign was wars and commotions, 



230 



CONCLUSION; 



" Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, and com- 
motions." Mark xiii. 7. Luke xxi. 9. 

Previous to the destruction of Jerusalem, the greatest 
agitation prevailed throughout the Roman empire, and 
the struggles for succession to the imperial throne 
were attended with the most savage and sanguinary 
conflicts. Not less than four emperors, Nero, Galba, 
Otho, and Vitellus, suffered violent deaths in the short 
space of eighteen months. The Saviour said further: 
" Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against 
kingdom." Not long after this prophecy was uttered, 
the Jews and Syrians fell out about the right of the city 
of Cesarea, and about twenty thousand Jews were slain. 
Upon this the Jews were exasperated, and dividing 
themselves into parties, burnt and plundered the neigh- 
bouring cities of the Syrians with immense slaughter. 
The Syrians, in revenge, rose upon the Jews, and as Jo- 
sephus says, every city was divided into two armies. 
At Scythopolis, Askelon, Ptolemais, Gadara, Alexan- 
dria, and Damascus, there w r ere immense slaughters. 
The Jews of Peraea rose up against the people of 
Philadelphia ; the Jews and Galileans against the 
Samaritans, and the whole nation against the Romans. 
Thus nation rose against nation, and kingdom against 
kingdom. 

3. " There shall be famines and pestilences in divers 
places." See Matt. xxiv. 7. Mark xiii. 8. Luke xxi. 
10. There was a famine mentioned by Suetonius, 
Tacitus, and Eusebius, which occurred in the days of 
Claudius Cesar, and was so severe at Jerusalem, that 
multitudes perished for want of food. Josephus also 
informs us that Judea was sorely afflicted with pesti- 
lences about these days. 

4. " There shall be earthquakes." Matt. xxiv. 7. 



CONCLUSION. 



231 



Mark xiii. S. Luke xxi. 11. Of these there were 
many which occurred about the times to w T hich our 
Saviour referred. There was one at Crete, in the 
reign of Claudius, and others at Smyrna, Miletus, 
Chios, Samos, and other places. Tacitus mentions 
one at Rome, in the same reign, and says that in the 
reign of Nero, the cities of Laodicea, Hieropoiis, and 
Colosse, were overthrown. So also was the celebrated 
city of Pompeii, in Campania, destroyed by an earth- 
quake. 

Many other circumstances which were the subject 
of prophecy, might be named. Such as the fearful 
sights, and signs, and wonders, the persecutions of 
Christians, the encompassing of Jerusalem with armies, 
and casting a trench around her ; the miseries of the 
Jews, &c, &c. It were an easy matter to show from 
authentic history, that these things occurred precisely 
as they had been foretold. But I pass on to note the 
prophecy of the final destruction of the city, and its 
fearful accomplishment. 

" The days will come in the which there shall not 
he left here one stone upon another, that shall not be 
thrown down. They shall lay thee even with the 
ground, and shall not leave in thee one stone upon 
another." Matt. xxiv. 2. Mark xiii. 2. Luke xxi. 24. 

At the time this prophecy was uttered, Jerusalem 
was in her glory, filled with the riches of earth, and 
her streets thronging with the busy multitude. It was 
a time of universal peace and prosperity. More than 
five hundred and sixty years had that city stood in its 
grandeur, and there were no circumstances, upon 
which the eye of human wisdom could justly found 
an opinion that it was destined soon to fall and rise no 
more. But it fell, and those who have read the his- 



232 



CONCLUSION. 



tory of its downfall, cannot fail to know that it came 
to pass in a manner precisely corresponding with the 
predictions of Christ. Every page of history relating 
to the destruction of that city, contains the most clear 
and positive proof of the divine origin of the prophetic 
warnings that Christ uttered concerning its overthrow. 
Nay, its mouldering ruins remain unto this day, a tan- 
gible evidence of the same fact. Should the reader 
feel disposed to pursue his inquiries further upon this 
subject, he is directed to " Home's Introduction, 1 ' 
App. No. 4, to vol. 1, chap, ii., Sec. 3; wnere ne will 
find a mass of facts from which the above is briefly 
abridged. A modern traveller thus speaks of the 
present state of Jerusalem: "From the centre of a 
neighbouring elevation, the traveller sees a wild, rugged 
mountainous desert — no herd pasturing on the summit, 
no forests clothing the acclivities, no water flowing 
through the valleys ; but one rude scene of melancholy 
waste, in the midst of which the ancient glory of 
Judea bows her head in widowed desolation. No 
c streets of palaces and walks of state,' no high raised 
arches of triumph, no fountains to cool the air, or por- 
ticoes to exclude the sun, no single vestige to announce 
its former military greatness or commercial opulence 
remains." 

To the foregoing I may add an instance of more an- 
cient date. It is the prophecy of Ezekiel in relation to 
Tyre. See Ezek. xxvi. 3, 4, 5, 14. 

This prophecy was made while Tyre was in her 
glory. It was one of the most flourishing cities in the 
world ; and to the eye of human wisdom there was 
nothing more improbable, than that such a place should 
become a desolate rock, and be used for the drying of 
fishermen's nets. Yet such is now, and has long been, 



CONCLUSION. 



233 



tile actual state of Tyre. Maundrell who travelled in 
the latter part of the last century, says: "This city 
standing in the sea upon a peninsula, promises, at a 
distance, something very magnificent. But when you 
come near it, you find no similitude of its former glory 
for which it was so renowned in former times. On the 
north side, it has an old Turkish castle ungarrisoned ; 
besides which, you see nothing here hut a mere Babel, 
of broken walls, pillars, vaults, &c, there being not so 
much as one entire house left. Its present inhabitants 
are only a few poor wretches, harbouring themselves 
in vaults, and subsisting chiefly by fishing, w T ho seem 
to be preserved here by divine providence, as a visible 
argument, how God has fulfilled his word concerning 
Tyre: that it should be as the top of a rock, a place 
for fishers to dry nets upon." No earthly wisdom could 
have foretold such an event; and hence, so long as 
history speaks, and the desolate rocks of Tyre remain 
a place for fishermen to spread their nets, so long will 
there remain a tangible and unanswerable argument 
in favour of the truth and divine authenticity of these 
prophetic writings, 

In like manner the prophet foretold the desolation 
of Egypt. See Ezekiel xxix. 15 : also xxx. 6, 12. More 
than two thousand and four hundred years have elapsed 
since this prophecy was delivered, and the event fore- 
told was at that time of the most improbable nature. 
Egypt was at that time in the height of her glory, one 
of the most renowned and powerful kingdoms of all 
antiquity. The prophecy, however, has been fulfilled 
to the very letter. Not long after it was delivered, 
Egypt with its eighteen thousand cities, and seventeen 
millions inhabitants, was conquered by the Babyloni- 
ans and Persians. When the Persian empire was 



234 



CONCLUSION 



subverted, Egypt became subject to the Macedonians, 
then to the Romans, then to the Saracens, then to the 
Mamelukes, and it is now a province of the Turkish 
empire. Syrene is in ruins ; the idols are scattered, 
the canals neglected, her rivers dry, and an immense 
region of country on both sides of the Nile, which was 
formerly fertile as a garden, is now utterly desolate, 
overwhelmed with sand in flying blasts, and consigned 
to everlasting solitude. Such is Egypt, once the glory 
of the world 5 and the traveller upon her parched 
sands, who weeps over the sepulchre of her departed 
greatness, may read in her present condition the truth 
that God spake by the mouth of the prophets. 

I cannot pursue this subject. To do it tolerable jus- 
tice would require volumes, instead of a discourse. I 
have selected these instances out of a multitude of the 
same kind, simply to show the sceptic, that when he 
takes hold of the Christian religion, he grapples with a 
subject that claims something more than conjecture or 
fancy for its support. When dealing with other sys- 
tems, he may take his own course ; but when he en- 
gages with Christianity, he must prepare himself to 
meet with stubborn facts. He may be assured that he 
is engaged with a system, which, in its nature, and 
object, and evidences, differs radically from the sys- 
tems that men have invented. A system whose evi- 
dences have caused the most profound philosophers 
the world ever saw to bow down and confess that it 
was not after man. 



APPENDIX. 



Note A — page 6. 

The evidences of Christianity are divided into external 
&nd internal. The external evidences are again divided 
into direct and collateral or auxiliary. The direct external 
-evidences of Christianity are such, says Mr. Buck, " as arise 
from the nature, consistency and probability of the facts; 
-and from the simplicity, uniformity, competency and fidelity 
of the testimonies by which they are supported. The collat- 
eral evidences are either the same occurrences supported by 
heathen testimonies, or others which connect with and cor- 
roborate the history of Christianity. Its internal evidences 
arise either from its exact conformity with the character of 
God, from its aptitude to the frame and circumstances of 
man, or from those supernatural convictions and assistances 
which are impressed on the mind by the immediate operation 
of the Divine Spirit." 

The principal evidences of Christianity may be conve- 
niently considered "under the following divisions, viz.: 1. The 
testimony borne to its numerous miracles, including the cir- 
cumstances, character and conduct of the witnesses. 2. The 
fulfilment of ancient predictions relating to Christ and his 
religion, and the accomplishment of various predictions of 
our Lord and his apostles. 3. Its perfect conformity with all 



236 



APPENDIX. 



that can be known of the divine character. 4. Its admirable 
adaptation to the moral nature and wants of man. 

It is not designed to give a catalogue of the principal wri- 
ters on this subject, but it may be useful to mention a few of 
the most popular and valuable works and w T hich are acces- 
sible to almost every individual in the country. Since the 
truth of Christianity is susceptible of proof from a great 
variety of facts and considerations, it w T ill be found highly 
advantageous to read several authors. By this means one is 
enabled to see the strong points of the cumulative argument 
in favour of Christianity, as they have appeared to different 
minds. 

This subject deserves the attention of every person in the 
community, whether believer or unbeliever in the divine 
origin of the Christian religion. If one receives Christianity 
as divine, he ought to know the grounds on which he so re- 
ceives it. If he rejects it and denies that it came from heav- 
en, he at least owes it to himself and the community to be 
able to tell under what principles of human nature, and from 
what impulses and motives it sprung at first and has thus far 
been perpetuated. 

The reader will consult with pleasure, Paley 5 s Evidences 
of Christianity ; Wilson's and also M'llvaine's Lectures on 
the Evidences of Christianity ; Watson's Apology for the 
Bible and for Christianity; Lord Lyttelton's Letter to G. 
West, Esq. on the Conversion of St. Paul ; Leslie's Short 
Method with Deists; Pickering's Lectures in Defence of 
Divine Revelation; and particularly Channing's Discourse 
on the Evidences of Revealed Religion; also, Thayer's 
Christianity against Infidelity, a late work. 

Note B — page 21. 

It seems that all the ancient philosophers adopted the idea 
of the eternity of matter. Dr. Good says: " If we search 
into the systems of all the ancient schools of philosophy, amid 



APPENDIX, 



237 



an infinite variety of jarring opinions in other respects, we 
find them, perhaps, without an exception, concurring in a 
belief of the eternity of matter, or that general substance 
which constitutes the visible world around us." Farther on, 
the same author says: " Under some modification or other, 
however, the doctrine of the eternity of matter appears to 
have been universal among the philosophers of ancient na- 
tions. That a loose and floating idea of its creatiuu, by the 
energy of a pure intelligence, is occasionally met with, and 
"which piobaoiy existed as a remnant of patriarchal tradition, 
must be admitted: for the Tuscans were generally allowed 
to have entertained such an idea, and we find it frequently 
adverted to and opposed by the leaders of the different 
schools; but in no instance does it seem to have been imbod- 
ied or promulgated as a doctrine of philosophy." 

The doctrine of the eternity of matter has been held by 
some Christians, and particularly under one of its various 
modifications. Hermogenes, probably an African of the 
second century, contended that matter was eternal, which 
opinion was written against by Tertullian in a tract which is 
still extant. Hermogenes seems to have thought matter eter- 
nal because he believed it to be essentially evil, and hence it 
could not have been created by God. The reason which the 
philosophers assigned for its eternity was simply that it was 
impossible for something to spring out of nothing, " Ex nihilo 
nihil fit. 11 

Several of the ancient Christian Fathers, according to Dr. 
Good, as Athenegoras. Tatian, Theophilus of Antioch, 
Athanasius, and Gregory Nazianzen appear to have concur- 
red with the philosophers in this mode of thinking. And 
Justin Martyr affirms it to have been the general creed of 
his time. " For that the word of God," says he, 11 formed the 
world out of unfasliioned matter, Moses distinctly asserts, 
Plato and his adherents maintain, and we have been taught 



238 



APPENDIX. 



to believe." It may be presumed that Plato had a much 
greater share in the business than Moses, who seems to 
teach that God by his own almighty energies created matter, 
as well as wrought it into form. 

Milton believed matter to be eternal, but he regarded it as 
" an efflux of the Deity." That it has always existed inde- 
pendently of God, he declared to be inconceivable, and since 
he thought that the universe was " made not out of nothing, 
but out of matter," he concluded that it must " have origina- 
ted from God at some particular point of time." This theory 
however does not relieve the subject, but rather involves it in 
still deeper difficulties. It virtually represents God himself 
as material ; for otherwise matter conld not be an efflux from 
him. The absurdity is certainly no greater in conceiving a 
spiritual being as creating matter out of nothing, than as pro- 
ducing it from himself. 

The idea of the absolute creation of matter involves no 
demonstrable absurdity, " Why," says Dr. Good, " may not 
something spring from nothing, w r hen the proposition is ap- 
plied to Omnipotence 1 I may be answered, perhaps, because 
it is a self-contradiction, an impossibility, an absurdity. This, 
however, is only to argue in a circle ; for why is it a self- 
contradiction or an impossibility V This question no man 
can satisfactorily answer. cc It is absurd," Mr. Good after- 
ward adds, " to suppose that matter does not exist ; it is ab- 
surd to suppose that it does exist eternally and independently 
of the Creator ; it is absurd to suppose that it constitutes the 
Creator himself ; but it is not absurd to suppose its absolute 
formation out of nothing by the exercise of an Almighty 
power, and as one of these four propositions must necessarily 
be true, reason should induce us to embrace the last with the 
game promptitude with which we reject the other three." 



APPENDIX. 



239 



Note C — page 37. 

Among the ancient philosophers Democritus taught that 
matter was intelligent in many of its corpuscles, and unin- 
telligent in the rest. Plato and Aristotle on the contrary- 
taught that it was intelligent as a whole, though unintelligent 
in its separate parts, while Epicurus contended that it was 
unintelligent in all its parts and particles whether united or 
disjoined. 

Note D — page 41. 

The position here conceded for the sake of the argument 
is utterly destitute of proof. Life is so far from being the 
effect of organic structure that it is the cause of it. The 
life of the seed cast into the ground is the cause of the organ- 
ization of the plant. A seed may be cast into the earth but 
not vegetate. We ask why does it not 1 And the answer 
will be found in the fact that its vital power was destroyed* 
The life of the seed, then, is doubtless the cause and not the 
effect of organization. It is worthy of remark, that we 
cannot find organization in any department of creation which 
may not be traced to antecedent life, as its cause. The fol- 
lowing extract is from Dr. Copeland's Appendix to Rich- 
erand's Physiology : — 

" Physiologists are divided into those admitting a principle" 
of life and those attributing the vital phenomena to organi- 
zation solely ; the latter class contending that life presuppo- 
ses organization, the former that organization presupposes the 

presence of life Those who contend that life is the 

result of organization, ought to explain in what manner the 
organization took place : they should show the means em- 
ployed to produce the disposition of parts which they con- 
ceive requisite to give rise to vital phenomena. If they deny 
the primary influence of vital power, associated with the 



240 



APPENDIX. 



particles of matter let them explain by what other agency ths 
different atoms can assume organic actions. All effects must 
have a cause ; and it is better to assign one according to 
which difficulties may be accounted for than to contend for 
the efficacy of properties or powers of the existence of which 
we have no evidence, and which even granting them Lc ex- 
ist, can only be considered as inferior agents, or certain 
manifestations, of a vital principle. 55 

Note E — page 48. 

For a description of the structure of the eye, the reader is 
referred to Paley's Natural Theology, chap, iii, and to the 
Encyclopaedia Americana. Art. Eye. Sturm was evidently 
not far from the truth in contending that an examination of 
the eye was a cure for Atheism. It seems almost impossible' 
for any one candidly to consider this wonderful organ in its 
structure, its position, and its appendages, without being 
forced to confess that it cannot be the effect of chance, but is 
the work of an intelligent and infinitely wise Creator. 

Note F — page 49. 

This remark, it may be said, is not true, since some men 
are blind and yet live comfortably and happy. But the re- 
mark was not made in reference to here and there an indi- 
vidual destitute of sight. Let the human race be at this mo- 
ment deprived of vision, and there must intervene a miracle, 
or it would soon become extinct. 

Could this supposition of universal blindness, or rather this 
universal destitution of eyes take place, it would furnish an 
opportunity to test one of the many vagaries of Atheism. I 
mean the system, if so it may be called, of Appetency. The 
principle assumed, for there was nothing but unqualified 
assumption about it, was simply this : — That animals. 



APPENDIX, 



241 



sensible of some deficiency in their structure, were constantly 
endeavouring to supply that deficiency, so that this exertion, 
continued through a long series of generations, imperceptibly 
wrought its effect, and produced in the animal a new organ 
or power. In this way it was assumed, the elephant provi- 
ded his trunk, the bird its wings, &c. If this hypothesis be 
true, men probably came by eyes by the same protracted but 
successful process, and we might reasonably anticipate that 
should the race be deprived of eyes, it would in course of 
time, furnish itself again with so necessary an organ. There 
are two slight objections, however, to this doctrine of appe- 
tency. The first is that it is somewhat difficult to conceive of 
any useful organ which was never possessed. The invention 
of a steam-engine, or any other piece of complicated ma- 
chinery was nothing to be compared with the first conception 
of the human eye. But notwithstanding all his improve- 
ments in science, man has not made a single addition to his 
own frame for the last five or six thousand years. This is a 
little singular if he had been so successful in discovering and 
supplying the want of eyes, ears, mouth, heart, hands, feet, 
&c., before. The second objection arises from the utter im- 
possibility that man or any other animal could exist for any 
length of time while destitute of these organs. Let the whole 
human race be deprived of their eyes, and although they 
could fully conceive their loss, we know they must perish a 
thousand times before this all-procuring appetency could have 
taken the first step towards supplying the fatal deficiency. 



Note G— page 72. 

Dr. Reid in his Essay on the active powers of man (p. 8,) 
holds the following language : ££ If I am asked what I mean 
by matter, I can only explain myself by saying, it is that 
which is extended, figured, coloured, moveable, hard or soft, 
21 



242 



APPENDIX. 



rough or smooth, hot or cold : that is, I can define it in no 
other way than by enumerating its sensible qualities." 

That excellent philosopher Dugald Stewart gives a similar 
view of the subject. The following brief quotations will 
show that his opinions accord with those expressed in the 
foregoing discourse. " It appears that we have the same 
evidence of the existence of mind that we have of the ex- 
istence of body. * * * Surely when we attempt to explain 
the nature of that principle which feels and thinks and wills 
by saying that it is a material substance, or that it is the result 
of material organization we impose on ourselves by words — 
forgetting, that matter as well as mind, is known to us by its 
qualities and attributes alone, and that we are totally igno- 
rant of the essence of either." Works, vol. i, p. 5. 

" Of the essence of matter," says Dr. Good, "we know 
nothing - y and altogether as little of many of its more active 
qualities." Hence it is obvious that our acquaintance with 
mind, is as accurate and as extensive as that with matter 
notwithstanding our fancied knowledge on the latter subject, 
See also Locke. 

Note H— page 114. 

The view here taken of rewards and punishments, is not 
intended to countenance the idea that God takes no immedi- 
ate cognizance of the actions of men. The writer conceives, 
that God is ever present to mark our virtues and vices ; but 
instead of interposing with a miraculous agency, without 
reference to established laws, to reward and punish, he uni- 
formly employs those laws of man's moral and physical na- 
ture, as the instruments by which to reward and punish. 

Note I— page 133. 

No truth is more fully, and few more frequently asserted 
in the Holy Scriptures than the impartial justice of God. It 



APPENDIX. 



243 



Is stated in a great variety of terms, and in the strongest pos- 
sible manner. The reader immediately perceives that it was 
an important point with the author of the Bible, to impress 
upon the human mind, this salutary and restraining truth, 
that the Judge of all the earth shall do right. For this pur- 
pose the pages of inspiration often present us with the fact, 
that he is " a just God." And lest a declaration so unequiv- 
ocal as this should be construed in such a manner as to ex- 
press only the general principle of the divine government, 
from which there might be numerous departures in practice, 
we are taught in the most explicit terms that no hope of im- 
punity in sin should, under any circumstances, be indulged, 
Hence we are met with such passages as the following: — 
" Thou renderest unto every man according to his works:" — 
" He that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he 
hath done and there is no respect of persons :" — " Though 
hand join in hand the wicked shall not go unpunished:" — 
11 He will by no means clear the guilty." 

Whatever may be the consequences, then, it seems impos- 
sible that we can evade the plain and express meaning of 
such passages as these. They speak a truth, which neither 
time nor circumstances can affect, and which it deeply con- 
cerns every subject of God's moral government to heed. Let 
not the sinner, therefore, flatter himself with the delusive 
hope of escaping the just judgments of Heaven. They will, 
they must come : come in GGd's own time, but come una- 
voidably. 

Still it is pleasing to reflect that God's unbending justice 
does not annihilate, nor interfere with his infinite mercy. In- 
deed the Psalmist is so bold, perhaps some would think so 
paradoxical, as to assign this impartial justice as the reason 
why mercy should be ascribed to God : " Also unto thee, O 
Lord, belongeth mercy ; for thou renderest unto every man 
according to his work." Hence, it appears, whether we can 



244 



APPENDIX. 



explain the fact or not, that justice and mercy are not antag- 
onist principles in the divine government. On the contrary, 
they are, as the present bishop of New Jersey once express- 
ed himself, "twin-sisters." Hand in hand, they go forth to 
execute the will of God, and in the performance of their high 
commission they know no strife. They proceed from a com- 
mon source and aim at a common end. God in being just is 
not unmerciful ; nor in being merciful is he unjust. 

The popular idea of mercy ', pardon or forgiveness, implies 
that their exercise is necessarily attended with a partial or 
total surrender of the claims of strict justice. This notion, 
however, seems to 

" Set at odds Heaven's jarring attributes, 
And with one excellence another Yv~ound." 

But it is believed that a careful examination of the subject, as 
it is presented in the Scriptures, would explode this idea. 
There God is represented as " forgiving iniquity, and trans- 
gression, and sin,* and that will by no means clear the guilty." 
He is called " a just God, and a Saviour" The Psalmist 
alluding to his dealings w r ith the children of Israel, says, 
11 Thou forgavest them, though thou iookest vengeance on their 
inventions. 

It is worthy of remark, that there is a very obvious and 
important difference Between forgiving sin, and forgiving or 
remitting the just punishment of sin. Of the former the 
Scriptures uniformly speak: of the latter, never. The object 
of Christ's mission was to " save his people from their sins" 
— " to take away the sin of the world." This is the com- 
mon language of the New Testament, but nowhere do we 
read that Christ came to save mankind from any punishment 
which their sins justly deserve. 

Two circumstances have contributed chiefly to the intro- 
duction and perpetuation of the popular opinion on this sub- 



APPENDIX. 



245 



jeet. The first is the assumption so generally made that 
endless misery is the penalty of the divine law, and of course 
the just punishment of transgression. A grosser assump- 3 
tion than this was never made, but being made, it necess&illy 
follows that the sinner cannot be saved, and yet receive the 
just punishment of his sins. The popular doctrine of for- 
giveivess relieves the difficulty, and by the sacrifice of the 
divine justicej rescues a portion of this world of sinners from 
their hopeless doom. 

The other circumstance which has contributed to the per- 
petuation of this doctrine is a neglect to distinguish between 
a perfect and an imperfect government. By a perfect gov- 
ernment is meant one, in the administration of which, every 
transgressor receives, or may receive, a punishment exactly 
proportionate to his criminality. By an imperfect govern- 
ment one which can at best boast of nothing more than an 
approximation to justice. Human governments are necessa- 
rily imperfect. Legislators cannot foresee and provide for 
every individual case that may occur. They cannot know 
the circumstances which determine 'the culprit's criminality. 
Nor can our courts of justice do much better. With the best 
intentions and the most uncompromising regard for right, it 
is impossible that they should not sometimes be deceived. 
Instances will occur where the innocent will be made to suf- 
fer without the fault of any one ; and others may be found 
where perjury shall direct the sword of justice to the bosom 
of the upright. In no case can they learn all the facts neces- 
sary to form a righteous judgment, and consequently while 
some suffer more than their crimes deserve, others escape, in 
part at last, the just punishment of their offences. In such 
nations as have made the greatest advancement in civiliza- 
tion, the arts, and religion, and where sentiments of human- 
ity are most widely diffused and most powerful, it has become 
a maxim that it is better to suffer some of the guilty to go 
21* 



246 



APPENDIX. 



unpunished, than to punish the innocent. Hence the. power 
of pardon — a power which in human governments is a virtual 
acknowledgment of their imperfection. 

In the government of God, however, the case is reversed. 
Here there can be no mistake, no deception. The lawgiver 
is also the judge. He reads the heart, and seeth in secret. 
No circumstance how trifling soever, which can affect the 
innocence or guilt of the individual, will, in making up the 
sentence, be forgotten. And the sentence which Heaven pro- 
nounces, he is able also to execute. He and he only in the 
universe, can exactly proportion the punishment in every 
case to the criminality; and shall not the judge of all the 
earth do right — perfectly right in every case and with every 
individual 1 And if so. where is the propriety of the re- 
mission of the just punishment? Does justice, divine justice, 
demand any thing inconsistent, w r ith the greatest good of the 
punished % Or can the best interests of the divine govern- 
ment be as well sustained by the unnecessary exercise of 
pardon, as by the uniform administration of strict justice 1 

For many excellent remarks on this subject, the reader is 
respectfully referred to an able essay by the Rev. S. Cobb, 
entitled " Punishment and Forgiveness," found in the Uni- 
versalist Expositor, vol. i, p. 148. 

Note J— page 139. 

It has been common to speak not only of the immortality 
of the soul, but also of the original immortality of the whole 
man in his present two-fold nature. The idea that man was 
created immortal, and that he would never have died, had 
he not been involved in transgression, has been popular for 
ages, and yet it amounts to no more than a childish play upon 
words. For that only is immortal which cannot die. It is 
thus our Saviour describes the resurrection state as one of 



APPENDIX. 



immortality, when he says of its subjects, "neither can they 
die any more." To speak therefore of an immortalbemg as 
falling under the power of death is a solicism, and is in fact 
no less absurd than to assert that a thing can be and not be 
at the same time. Whether man was created mortal or im- 
mortal, then, is not a difficult question to decide. 

The question concerning the immortality of the soul is 
confessedly more intricate, as the subject is farther removed, 
or rather wholly beyond the limits of our experience. We 
have seen men die as to their outward nature. We have 
followed their lifeless bodies to the grave and seen " the dust 
return to the earth as it was." But the soul, the mind, the 
spirit ! who can assert that this is also mortal 1 Again who 
can with confidence declare that it is possessed of natural 
immortality, i. e. that it was originally created immortal % 
The Scriptures perhaps would hardly furnish direct proof to 
substantiate either of these hypotheses. But if the soul be 
possessed of inherent immortality, wherein, we would ask, 
consists the great, the vast importance attached in the Chris- 
tian religion to the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead? 
Men would have lived, lived spiritual beings, lived necessa- 
rily and for ever, if Christ had never come, and died and rose 
again. How then was life and immortality brought to light 
in the gospel % 

Would it not be more consonant with the truth of revela- 
tion to think and speak of the soul, not as immortal now or 
naturally, but as originally designed to take on immortality, 
if so we may speak, in God's own good time % Hence the 
desires, the longings of the soul after this unspeakable good. 
Some of its fainter glories are mildly shadowed forth in our 
spiritual natures, and constitute at once the central point of 
our wishes and hopes. It is something not yet possessed, at 
least in its higher developments— something still future, a 
vast, indefinable, but transcendantly glorious boon, for 



APPENDIX. 



which we sigh, an exalted nature towards which ail our spir- 
itual powers aspire. 

Considering man, in this manner, a candidate for immor- 
tality, and not at present a possessor of it, we are enabled 
easily to recognise Jesus Christ in the infinitely interesting 
character in which the New Testament seems uniformly to 
present him. There he is not the mere restorer of God's 
tarnished work, the individual appointed to raise man again 
to a station he once before held, and which in Adam he lost. 
According to the Scriptures, " the first man is of the earth, 
earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven." li The 
first Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made 
a quickening spirit." The office of Christ, therefore, was 
not so much to restore any thing which had been lost, as to 
advance, exalt, purify, spiritualize, and make immortal hu- 
man nature which had been hitherto " earthy" and grovel- 
ling. When we are taught that " in Adam all die," v/e are 
taught to contemplate the whole human race as invaded by 
death, as subject to mortality. This world is but a mighty 
sepulchre where death reigns triumphant. All are dying or 
dead. Yet it is in this world that Jesus Christ, M the Lord 
from heaven," appears, and proclaims himself the conqueror 
of death and the subverter of his empire. " I am the res- 

URRRECTION AND THE LIFE." 

Viewing the subject in this light, we can see peculiar force 
and meaning in many passages of Scripture which are other- 
wise jejune or apparently untrue. "When the apostle says to 
the Colossians, " Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ 
in God," he asserts a great and glorious truth. Christ was 
their life as he is ours, and the world's. 

We hazard nothing, then, in saying that we know, that we 
can know of no immortality for man but which flows from 
Jesus Christ, " the Prince of life," through the power of his 
resurrection, This is the ground and the only sure ground 



APPENDIX. 



249 



of our hope. In the "words of another we would say, 11 On 
this doctrine of his resurrection is also built our faith in his 
promises, to give life and glory to his servants. For how 
could we believe him to be the Author of life, w T ho remain- 
ed under the power of death % If he had been confined to the 
grave all our hopes had been buried with him. But his res- 
urrection is the cause, pattern, and argument of ours; and 
Christ may be said, not only to have raised his body from the 
grave but also his church with him." Does not the language 
of Peter fully establish this view of our subject 1 " Blessed 
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, accord- 
ing to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a lively 
[living] hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the 
dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and un defiled and that 
fadeth not away." Without the resurrection then, man could 
have had no good, no living hope of immortality and an in- 
corruptible inheritance. 

One of the conclusions necessarily drawn from these facts 
is that no man can become immortal but through the minis- 
try of Jesus Christ. He is the world's only hope. It may be 
well for us, however, to remember that " God only hath im- 
mortality," i. e. as Dr. Macknight says, " life without begin- 
ning and ending. If any other being hath life without ending, 
it is by his gift." This corresponds with the words of Jesus : 
" As the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the 
Son to have life in himself," and to quicken " whom he will," 
from which it follows that there is but one kind of immor- 
tality in the universe. Tt necessarily springs from God and 
is communicated to our race through his own beloved Son. 
The life and immortality therefore which he gives is beyond 
doubt spiritual and divine. The streams must be like the 
fountain from which they immediately flow. To suppose that 
God will give immortality to any thing unholy, to any thing 
opposed to himself, his own nature, his government, his 



250 



APPENDIX. 



glory, is to suppose that he will voluntarily perpetuate sin 
and rebellion and misery. He cannot build up another empire 
within his own, to be in eternal conflict with its spirit. Neither 
can Christ, his beloved Son, be the minister of sin, or render 
immortal the kingdom of Satan which he came to destroy. 

This leads us to look upon the immortal state of being as 
one of spiritual purity and holiness, one in strict and eternal 
conformity and unison with Him " who only hath immortal- 
ity," and who could not without violence to his own nature 
and will, bestow it upon what should be unworthy and oppos- 
ed to himself. For "they which shall be accounted worthy 
to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, nei- 
ther marry nor are given in marriage ; neither can they die 
any more j for they are equal unto the acgels ; and are the 
children of God, being the children of the resurrection." If 
any one is disposed to ask how large a part of the human 
race shall be accounted worthy of the resurrection from the 
dead, we can only answer in the language of inspiration, 
" But now is Christ risen and become the first-fruits of them 
that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also 
the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even 
so in Christ shall all be made alive." Sin, and death, and 
the devil shall be destroyed, utterly and for ever, and the hu- 
man race redeemed from their power by Jesus Christ. Th« 
universe shall be holy and happy, for God, even " the bless- 
ed God," shall be allin all. 

Note K— page 250. 

The celebrated infidel, Thomas Paine, says : " I trouble 
not myself about the manner of future existence. I content 
myself with believing even to a positive conviction that the 
power that gave me existence, is able to continue it in any 
form and manner he pleases, either with or without a body, 
and it appears more probable to me that I shall continue to 



APPENDIX. 



251 



exist hereafter, than that I should have had existence, as I 
now have it before that existence began." Age of Reason, 
Part 1st, near the end. 

Note L— page 233. 

The following passage has sometimes been quoted as proof 
that Christ encouraged a spirit of strife: " Think not that I 
am come to send peace on earth : I am come not to send 
peace but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance 
against his father, and the daughter against her mother, 
and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." Matt, 
x. 34, 35. But it requires only a moderate share of atten- 
tion to perceive, and of candour to confess, that this passage 
by no means justifies the opinion in the behalf of which it is 
thus quoted. How very unjust it is to accuse a religion whose 
fundamental principle is, " Love lo all men, even to enemies," 
of directly and intentionally unsheathing the sword, and 
sending it forth through the world, to drink the blood of 
God's rational offspring ! That the Christian religion has 
been the innocent cause, or rather the occasion of much 
strife and contention is undoubted. This has been the acci- 
dental, or if you please, the necessary result of truth coming 
in conflict with error. But to charge this result to Chris- 
tianity is as unreasonable as to ascribe the darkness of night 
or the frosts of winter to the influence of the sunbeams. 
The spirit of the world has been opposed to the religion of 
Jesus, and hence it has happened that in its progress it has 
been doomed to encounter persecution, and oftentimes of 
the bitterest and most fatal character. But in whose hand 
has been the sword 1 Let history answer. The setting of 
parents against children and of children against parents is 
then to be considered as a prediction of evils which the spirit 
of the times would bring upon Christians, rather than the 
legitimate effects of Christianity itself. In the primitive age 



252 



of our religion, instead of giving outward peace to the be- 
liever, it subjected him to great trials and persecutions. En- 
emies sprung up in his own household, and if history may be 
believed, of such a malignant character as, sundering all the 
lies of consanguinity, and friendship, rejoiced in delivering 
up the believing father, or son, or mother, or sister, to prison 
and to death. See Buck's Theological Dictionary. Art, 
Persecution. Also Paley's Evidences of Christianity. 

Note M — page 211. 

Some few years since Abner Kneeland cfTered through a 
paper called the " Boston Investigator," of Yvhich he was 
editor, to pay the sum of one thousand dollars, to any person 
who would prove the existence of Jesus Christ! The offer 
was accepted by the editor of the " Sentinel and Star in the 
West," on condition, that the money should be given to a 
literary institution at Philomath, la. But for some reason 
best known to himself Mr. Kneeland did not think proper to 
engage in the discussion. 



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